Tajikistan - Travel Warning
November 25, 1997
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer travel to Tajikistan at the present time in light of a series of recent security incidents, including the kidnapping of two French citizens on November 18, 1997. The Department is concerned that Westerners have specifically been targeted and the possibility of additional kidnappings exists. The government of Tajikistan is unable to ensure the safety of foreigners, including private American citizens.
The Department of State has therefore ordered the departure of dependents and non-essential U.S. Embassy employees. It also urges American citizens currently in Tajikistan to consider carefully their personal security situation and, if appropriate, to depart Tajikistan. Those who choose to depart by road should do so in multi-vehicle convoys. Regularly scheduled commercial air service is also available.
Source: U.S. Department of State - Travel Advisory
Tajikistan, a newly independent country in central Asia, has been undergoing profound political and economic changes since the break- up of the Soviet Union. After the civil war in 1992, sporadic fighting continued, largely in remote areas. Since August 1997, there has been some fighting in Dushanbe.Friday, November 28, 1997
An alliance of former Soviet officials, industrial managers and technocrats from the northern Leninabad region and Kulyab in the south gained power following the near-civil war in 1991-92. The war and natural disasters have virtually bankrupted Tajikistan, the poorest state in the CIS.
A ceasefire with Islamist rebel leaders has been repeatedly extended and repeatedly breached. Rebel elements continue to mount attacks from Afghanistan and in the central Tavildara region. Islamist rebels, Pamiri separatist elements and Tajik/CIS border guards co-exist uneasily in the large but sparsely-populated Gorno-Badakhshan (Pamir) region.
The security environment for business will remain poor. A local journalist working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was shot dead in December 1995 on a university campus in Dushanbe. The motive for the killing is unknown, but he was at least the 30th journalist to have been killed in Tajikistan since 1991.
Rebel attacks will be concentrated along the Afghan border where the Russian peacekeeping force is deployed. High crime rates and political violence will continue in Dushanbe. In February 1995 a presumed Islamist rebel rocket attack on a bus carrying Russian military medical staff killed a nurse and injured six others. The large number of weapons has fuelled the growth of armed criminal gangs nationwide. The killing of one of Tajikistan's four deputy prime ministers, Moyonsho Nazarshoyev, in Dushanbe in March 1994 may have been the work of the organised criminal underworld seeking to prevent the government from curbing its activities as part of a drive to restore stability.
In their threat assessment, ERRI analysts condsider Tajikistan to be an EXTREME RISK. An extreme risk is defined as countries that have civil and other war situations wherein the central government does not control significant geographical areas, which are in the partial control of insurgent forces or where government control is immediately threatened. Also, countries undergoing a violent transformation through a military coup or revolution. Travel and/or investment are discouraged.
Source: ERRI WORLD SITUATION REPORT, Vol. 1, No. 114