Four Islamist militants killed in north Tajikistan last year

Four suspected members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, or IMU, were killed and another 50 were arrested last year in northern Tajikstan, a Tajik Interior Ministry spokesman said Monday.
Gen. Sharif Nazarov, Interior Ministry head in the northern Sughd Province, said militants were particularly active in the autumn when the Tajik Army conducted operations against them in the country's central Rasht district, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
Nazarov said some IMU activists and members of the banned Islamic movement Hizb ut-Tahrir provide financial support to those groups by working abroad and sending remittances.
He said at least five suspected IMU members working in Russia were arrested there last year, while three others are still being investigated.
A resident in the northern Tajik town of Isfara told RFE/RL the IMU and Hizb ut-Tahrir provide financial support to their members. He said there are IMU members in his town and poverty is a main reason driving many young people to join the banned movements.