DUSHANBE: Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon called off a military offensive yesterday after rebel fighters agreed concessions to end a battle that had killed 42 people, security officials said.
The cease-fire followed a campaign to capture former warlord Tolib Ayombekov in a remote mountain region next to Afghanistan, a show of strength by a government whose control over parts of the Central Asian state remains tenuous 15 years after a civil war.
Twelve soldiers and 30 rebels were killed during fighting on Tuesday, officials said. Shops and markets reopened on Wednesday in Khorog, capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region and the closest town to the fighting deep in the Pamir mountains.
“The decision was taken to avoid further bloodshed, after the (rebel) field commanders promised to make concessions,” a source in the presidential administration told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He declined to say what concessions had been promised.
Security forces had earlier demanded the handover of four rebels, including Ayombekov, accused of murdering the regional head of the State Committee on National Security on Saturday. Maj.-Gen. Abdullo Nazarov was dragged from his car and beaten to death.
Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev traveled to the region for talks with rebel fighters and offered amnesty to those who turned in their weapons, a high-ranking official in the security services told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
“The main demand from our side is that the four people directly involved in the killing of Abdullo Nazarov are brought to justice,” the source said. Ayombekov evaded capture during the offensive.
Tens of thousands of people died in Tajikistan during its 1992-97 civil war, in which Rakhmon’s secular government, backed by Moscow, fought a loosely-aligned opposition that included many Islamist fighters.
Russia still has 6,000 troops stationed in Tajikistan, its largest military deployment abroad and a bulwark against the threat of Islamist violence spilling across the Afghan border after NATO pulls its troops out in 2014.
After much wrangling over conditions, Russia and Tajikistan agreed in principle this month to extend Moscow’s lease on its military base for another 49 years.
“A military stand-off with the opposition would definitely weaken (Rakhmon’s) internal position, making him more pliant in his relations with Moscow,” said Arkady Dubnov, a Moscow-based Central Asia analyst.
“He has been a virtual steamroller that has suppressed political opposition, but the growing clout of armed gangs will pose an increasing challenge as the troop pullout from Afghanistan gets nearer,” he said.
“It’s an open secret that he no longer controls large chunks of his own country.”
Gorno-Badakhshan, separated from Afghanistan by the raging Pyandzh river, is an autonomous region where the authority of central government is fragile. Most of the 250,000 population sided with the opposition during the civil war.
Most communications in Khorog, 500 km (300 miles) southeast of the capital Dushanbe, were cut off for a second day. A local resident, able to communicate via a satellite link, told Reuters that fighting had not spread to the town itself.
n FROM: Reuters
“We heard shooting, but we didn’t see any troops,” he said. “Last night we checked on our neighbors, and everybody was safe and sound. Nobody has bombed the town.”
Ayombekov, who has denied involvement in Nazarov’s death, fought with the opposition during the civil war and was among former fighters to receive government jobs in the peace deal that ended the conflict.
But the GKNB, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, has said his gang had for many years been involved in smuggling drugs, tobacco and precious stones.
“The restoration of order in Gorno-Badakhshan is long overdue. The authorities have long discredited themselves by allowing local mobsters to run business in the region when they should be in jail,” said Dushanbe-based analyst Ramzan Sharipov.
“There will not be a second civil war in Tajikistan,” he said. “The operation comes at a good time for the president, a year before scheduled elections, and will be portrayed by authorities as a show of strength and centralized power.”
Rakhmon, in power for two decades, is widely expected to be re-elected in 2013 for another seven-year term.
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Tajik forces end military offensive
Tajik forces end military offensive
Ratcliffe says he is sorry his UK ‘colonized by immigrants’ remark offended some
LONDON: British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said on Thursday he was sorry he had offended some people by saying the country had been “colonized by immigrants,” after Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined a chorus of criticism over the remarks.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, responded to the outcry with a statement saying it was important to raise the issue of immigration, but that he regretted his “choice of language” had caused concern.
The founder of chemicals giant INEOS, and owner of nearly a third of Manchester United, had told Sky News that high migration and people living on benefits were damaging the economy.
Finance minister: Comments were “disgusting”
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonized — it’s costing too much money,” Ratcliffe said in the interview aired on Wednesday.
“The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” he added.
Starmer said the remarks were wrong and would play into the hands of those who wanted to divide the country. Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the comments were “unacceptable” and “disgusting.”
On Thursday, INEOS issued a statement from Ratcliffe in response to “reporting of his comments.”
“I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth,” he said.
He said he wanted to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs to ensure long-term prosperity is shared by everyone, and that it was “critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.”
Starmer’s spokesperson said it was right for him to apologize. Asked if an apology about offense caused rather than the comments themselves were enough, the spokesperson said questions on the detail of the apology were for Ratcliffe.
Manchester United fans flag up use of “colonized”
His comments were condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United, including its Muslim Supporters Club who said the term “colonized” was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders.
“Public discourse shapes public behavior,” the group said. “When influential figures adopt language that mirrors extremist talking points, it risks legitimising prejudice and deepening division.”
Others noted that the Manchester United first team was largely made up of international players and staff, and questioned whether Ratcliffe should be commenting on British politics when he had moved to the tax haven Monaco.
Before Ratcliffe’s response, The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said Ratcliffe’s comments were inflammatory and should be withdrawn.
Immigration debate has intensified
Immigration has consistently been among the top voter concerns in Britain according to opinion polls, and has helped fuel the rise of Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party Reform UK.
Rhetoric around immigration has hardened in recent years and a wave of protests broke out last summer outside hotels housing asylum seekers. Widespread rioting also occurred in 2024, sparked by false information circulating online that a teenager who killed three young girls was an Islamist migrant.
Sky said Ratcliffe had cited incorrect figures to back up his argument. He said the population had risen from 58 million to 70 million people since 2020. The Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was 67 million in mid-2020 and 69 million in mid-2024.
The population was around 59 million in 2000. Ratcliffe and his office did not immediately respond to Reuters questions about the figures he used.
Farage responded to the comments by saying that Britain had undergone mass immigration that had changed the character of many areas in the country. “Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t,” he said.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, responded to the outcry with a statement saying it was important to raise the issue of immigration, but that he regretted his “choice of language” had caused concern.
The founder of chemicals giant INEOS, and owner of nearly a third of Manchester United, had told Sky News that high migration and people living on benefits were damaging the economy.
Finance minister: Comments were “disgusting”
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonized — it’s costing too much money,” Ratcliffe said in the interview aired on Wednesday.
“The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” he added.
Starmer said the remarks were wrong and would play into the hands of those who wanted to divide the country. Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the comments were “unacceptable” and “disgusting.”
On Thursday, INEOS issued a statement from Ratcliffe in response to “reporting of his comments.”
“I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth,” he said.
He said he wanted to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs to ensure long-term prosperity is shared by everyone, and that it was “critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.”
Starmer’s spokesperson said it was right for him to apologize. Asked if an apology about offense caused rather than the comments themselves were enough, the spokesperson said questions on the detail of the apology were for Ratcliffe.
Manchester United fans flag up use of “colonized”
His comments were condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United, including its Muslim Supporters Club who said the term “colonized” was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders.
“Public discourse shapes public behavior,” the group said. “When influential figures adopt language that mirrors extremist talking points, it risks legitimising prejudice and deepening division.”
Others noted that the Manchester United first team was largely made up of international players and staff, and questioned whether Ratcliffe should be commenting on British politics when he had moved to the tax haven Monaco.
Before Ratcliffe’s response, The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said Ratcliffe’s comments were inflammatory and should be withdrawn.
Immigration debate has intensified
Immigration has consistently been among the top voter concerns in Britain according to opinion polls, and has helped fuel the rise of Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party Reform UK.
Rhetoric around immigration has hardened in recent years and a wave of protests broke out last summer outside hotels housing asylum seekers. Widespread rioting also occurred in 2024, sparked by false information circulating online that a teenager who killed three young girls was an Islamist migrant.
Sky said Ratcliffe had cited incorrect figures to back up his argument. He said the population had risen from 58 million to 70 million people since 2020. The Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was 67 million in mid-2020 and 69 million in mid-2024.
The population was around 59 million in 2000. Ratcliffe and his office did not immediately respond to Reuters questions about the figures he used.
Farage responded to the comments by saying that Britain had undergone mass immigration that had changed the character of many areas in the country. “Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t,” he said.
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