The situation in Gorno-Badakhshan normalizes, more than a thousand servicemen have left the region

In the past two days, over a thousand servicemen involved in military special operations of government forces have been removed from the Tajik region of Badakhshan . This was announced today by phone from Khorog (the administrative center of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region) by the region's Press Secretary, Rahmon Gulzor. "Withdrawal of servicemen is part of the agreement signed by the regional authorities, the management staff of the government forces and members of the protest movement with the participation of international organizations," Gulzor explains, according to ITAR-TASS.
The special operation was carried out in connection with the murder of a General of the Tajik special services, Abdullo Nazarov, on July 21.

Gulzor has difficulty naming the exact amount of additional forces that entered Khorog. He pointed out that in the regional center the military are not visible, the situation has returned to normal, people are free to move around the city and all the shops are open. "More good news: after a month of absence, telephone connections are working again, both mobile and landline," the press secretary of the head of administration says, adding that "connection with certain remote areas works with interruptions, but for purely technical reasons."

Meanwhile, according to Rahmon Gulzor, a group of prosecutors from Dushanbe continues to investigate the assassination of the General Abdullo Nazarov. Former warlords and Tolib Ayembekov and Mahmadbokir Mahmadbokirov are being questioned as witnesses in the case. "They are in Khorog under house arrest, investigators are working with them, but no charges have been brought," the representative of the regional administration says.

Unauthorized protests have been periodically occurring in the province since July 24.

Last week, another escalation of the situation was caused by the assassination of the former warlord Imomnazar Imomnazarov, who was considered one of the informal leaders in Badakhshan. Thousands of protesters took to the streets, demanding an investigation of the crime and the withdrawal of government troops. On August 23, as a result of negotiations by the authorities of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), the heads of security agencies and civil society signed an agreement, according to which the government forces are withdrawn from the region, and all participants in unsanctioned rallies are exempt from criminal prosecution.