Banned Muslim political party blamed for deadly attack on tourists in Tajikistan
Four Western cyclists run over then stabbed to death in assault also claimed by Islamic State
Tajikistan’s government accused a banned Islamist party of being behind the attack which killed four tourists from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Citing what it said was the confession of a detained suspect, Tajikistan’s interior ministry said in a statement that the attackers’ leader had been trained in Iran and the group planned to flee to Afghanistan after the attack.
Iran denied any links to the group.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran denies any link with this terrorist attack and categorically denies that there is any military base to train terrorists inside Iran,” said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, quoted by the Mehr news agency. “We condemn all terrorist acts all over the world, including the recent attack on foreign tourists in Tajikistan.”
Four Western cyclists were killed when a car ploughed into them on Sunday after which the attackers also stabbed their victims, Tajikistan’s interior minister and the US embassy said on Monday.
The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car and attacked on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100km (60 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.