Tajik media are reporting that a woman known to be the second wife of a fugitive Tajik colonel, Gulmurod Halimov, has left for Syria along with the couple's four young children.
The relatives of Humairo Mirova confirmed on February 28 that she left Tajikistan earlier this month but insisted that they were unaware of her whereabouts.
According to the family, Mirova told them she was going on vacation and asked them not to try to contact her until she calls them herself.
There were no official comments on Mirova's case. However, her brother, Shohnazar Mirov, said he was kept in police custody for a week after Mirova's departure.
Mirov said authorities questioned him on his sister's whereabouts.
Mirova, 40, worked as a spokesperson for the State Customs Service, but her employer said she has been on a maternity leave since the summer of 2015.
Tajik media reported that Mirova became Halimov's second wife 10 years ago.
Halimov, the former commander of the Interior Ministry's special forces, known as OMON, disappeared in April 2015.
Halimov later appeared on a video to confirm that he had defected to the Islamic State militant group in Syria.
Tajik authorities say they were continuing efforts to capture Halimov. They also say he has been seriously injured twice since leaving the country.
