IraqSyria

Tajiks fighting in Middle East will burn in hell: President

71C0B027-9FA5-4F5F-A732-FD60E6605E96_cx0_cy6_cw0_mw1024_mh1024_s

Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon says Tajiks who have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight for terrorist groups including the ISIL will burn in hell.

“Hell awaits everyone who kills the faithful without reason,” Rahmon told a crowd of people in the capital city of Dushanbe on Friday, ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, which Tajikistan renamed Mother’s Day in 2009.

“Did their mothers or these strays themselves not know that their place is in hell? Do they not know that Syria and Iraq are Muslim countries and that every day there are Muslims dying there?” the president asked.

His remarks come as Tajik security officials estimate that up to 300 nationals are fighting in Iraq and Syria, with at least 50 killed so far.

Last month, a court in the Central Asian nation sentenced 13 men to between nine and 12 years in jail for their alleged role in recruiting young people to fight in the Middle East.

In December last year, Tajikistan arrested almost 50 young men suspected of preparing to join the ISIL terrorists in Syria.

Back then, the Tajik president termed the ISIL “the plague of the new century” which “represents a threat for global security.”

In recent months, Rahmon has personally held a number of meetings with Tajik youths about the dangers of radicalism.

The ISIL terrorists control parts of Syria and Iraq. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.

Figures from the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) and the New York-based Soufan Group show an estimated 20,000 militants from almost 80 countries have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight along with extremist groups.

According to a UN Security Council report, many of the foreign militants joining the group are youngsters as the ISIL makes massive use of social media.

Back to top button