Tajikistan Detains Women For Alleged IMU Membership

KHUJAND, Tajikistan -- Two women in Tajikistan's northern Sughd Province have been detained for alleged membership in the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Obidakhon Qudratova was detained on November 4 for keeping extremist religious literature in her house, and Hanifakhon Ahmadova was charged the same day with possession of a grenade.

Isfara district prosecutor Orifjon Umarov told RFE/RL that the regional Prosecutor's Office is investigating both cases.

He said Ahmadova is the mother of Abdujalil Ahmadov, who was arrested on October 18 after a shootout between Tajik security forces and a group of insurgents that left four militants dead.

Last year, three women in Sughd Province's Kulkant village were sentenced to 10 and 11 years in prison for their involvement in a terrorist group. But they were released after President Emomali Rahmon issued a decree granting them amnesty.