No one terrorist act was committed in Sughd province last year, the chief of the Interior Ministry’s office in Sughd, Major-General Sharif Nazarzoda, told reporters in Khujand on January 26.

“A downward trend in local youth’s joining extremist groups was observed in the province last year and the number of those traveling to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State (IS) militants has considerably decreased,” Sughd police chief said, noting that the number of extremism-related crimes has decreased by nearly 15 percent.

Nazarzoda, however, refrained from giving the number of local residents convicted of membership in radical and extremist groups.      

According to him, parents and experts asked him not to give those data because that reportedly affected moral-and-psychological state of youth.

In 2016, there were 5,142 crimes, including 1,009 serious crimes, reported in the province, which was 1.31 percent less than in 2015, Sughd police chief noted.

The number of crimes committed by organized criminal groups during the report period decreased by 152 cases or 73.8 percent, Nazarzoda said.

The number of murders reported decreased by 16.2 percent; 36 murders were reported in Sughd last year, which was 7 cases less than in 2015.

Compared to 2015 there was increase in the number of reported cases of thefts, extortion and fraud, Nazarzoda said, noting that 92.5 percent of all the crimes were solved last year.

Recall, Sughd governor Abdurahmon Qodiri told reporters in Khujand on January 19 that 322 residents of Sughd province are fighting alongside Islamic IS militants in Syria.  

39 of them traveled to Syria together with their families, Qodiri said, noting that 51 Sughd residents were killed in in Syria.

He further added that 51 residents of the province were currently fighting in Afghanistan and 73 others in Pakistan.  

Last year, 193 residents of Sughd province were reportedly jailed on charges of extremism and terrorism, the governor said.