RFE/RL’s Tajik Service is a trusted source of local news, attracting audiences with compelling reporting on issues not otherwise covered by Tajikistan’s state-run media.
Just weeks after sentencing nearly 120 "members of a Muslim Brotherhood cell," Tajikistan has begun the trial of some 20 alleged members of the banned Salafi Islamic movement. Critics say the government exaggerates the threats to clamp down on dissent.
Tajik rider Malika Rajabova is used to being the only woman on the field when she plays buzkashi, a Central Asian sport in which competitors on horseback fight to grab a goat carcass. She says some men have told her she shouldn't play, but that has only heightened her motivation to win.
Jailed Tajik lawyer Saidnuriddin Shamsiddinov, a government critic imprisoned on fraud charges he says were politically motivated, faces new charges of having links with an extremist group.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on June 5 reached an agreement to calm a tense border standoff between the two Central Asian nations, in the latest incident over contested territory more than a month after deadly clashes.
Just over a month after deadly clashes erupted along the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, people on both sides are rebuilding ruined homes and returning to normal life. Residents of the border region say they hope the two states will reach an agreement so that friendly relations can resume.
A former member of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, who quit politics years ago, has been sentenced to five years in prison for being "a member of a banned extremist organization."
Rahmatillo Zoirov, the leader of Tajikistan's opposition Social Democratic Party for more than two decades, has stepped down citing lingering health issues stemming from an attack he suffered last year.
Authorities at Kyrgyzstan's main international airport have barred dozens of Tajik citizens flying from neighboring Tajikistan from entering the country.
A prominent Tajik imam has been fired amid complaints that he dragged a worshipper from a mosque and insulted the congregation during Ramadan prayers.
Kyrgyz and Tajik officials have agreed to jointly control law and order along a disputed segment of the border to ease tensions following deadly clashes late last month.
Several Kyrgyz and Tajik nationals were briefly detained along a disputed segment of the border between the two Central Asian states as tensions in the area continue to simmer.
The parents of Tajikistan's first recorded quintuplets are struggling to feed their new babies. The children's father hasn't been able to work since Russia closed its border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Muslims around the world gathered amid differing levels of coronavirus restrictions to pray on the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The wearing of masks was obligatory for prayers on May 13 at mosques in both Pristina, Kosovo and the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
Tajik officials say mudslides triggered by heavy rains have killed nine people in the west of the country.
Hasan Akbarov, a 31-year-old Tajik border guard, was shot dead the day before he was set to celebrate his sister's wedding. In Kyrgyzstan, border officer Isfana Bekzod Yuldashev died in the same conflict days before his 31st birthday.
Tajik authorities say 19 people were killed and 87 injured in clashes along a disputed segment of the border with Kyrgyzstan last week, in their first official data on the violence.
Funerals were held on both sides of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border after armed clashes on April 28-29 claimed more than 50 lives. With a cease-fire in place since May 1, evacuees have begun returning home, but many have found their houses damaged or destroyed by fighting and looting.
The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border remains stable after deadly clashes in recent days as both sides continue to blame each other for the violence.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have completed the withdrawal of their military units from border areas as part of an agreed pullback following a series of deadly clashes last week.
Both sides have reported calm on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border as a day-old cease-fire appeared to be holding and more than 40 people were being mourned from some of the worst clashes in decades on their disputed frontier.
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