| Civil War in Tajikistan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fighting in Tajikistan |
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| Combatants | |||||||
* Government of Tajikistan
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*United Tajik Opposition | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Emomali Rahmonov (President of Tajikistan) | Said Abdullah Nuri (UTO) Mohammed Sharif Himmatzade (IRP) |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| 50,000 to 100,000 killed, 1.2 million displaced | |||||||
| Conflicts in the former Soviet Union |
|---|
| Nagorno-Karabakh – South Ossetia – 1st Abkhazia – Georgia – North Ossetia – Transnistria – Tajikistan – 1st Chechnya – 2nd Abkhazia – Dagestan – 2nd Chechnya |
The civil war in Tajikistan (Tajik: Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, Jangi shahrvandii Tojikiston) began in May 1992 when disenfranchised groups from the Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan regions rose up against the national government of President Emomali Rahmonov. Democrats, liberal reformists, and Islamists fought together and later organized under the banner of the United Tajik Opposition. By June 1997 fifty to one hundred thousand people had been killed.[3][4] President Rahmonov, UTO leader Said Abdullah Nuri, and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General Gerd Merrem signed the "General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan" and the "Moscow Protocol" on 27 June 1997 in Moscow, Russia, ending the war.[5]
Contents |
Background
Tensions began in the spring of 1992 after opposition members took to the streets in demonstrations against the 1991 presidential election. President Rahmon Nabiyev and Speaker of the Supreme Soviet Safarali Kenjayev orchestrated the dispersal of weapons to pro-government militias while the opposition turned to rebels in Afghanistan for military aid. Fighting broke out in May 1992 between old guard supporters of the government, backed by Moscow, and a loosely organized opposition composed of disenfranchised groups from the regions Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan, democratic liberal reformists, and Islamists. Nabiyev resigned his presidency on 7 September 1992.[6] With the aid of the Russian military and Uzbekistan, pro-government forces routed the opposition in early and late 1992. In December 1992 a new government was formed under the leadership of Emomali Rahmonov, representing a shift in power from the old power based in Leninabad to the militias from Kulyab, from which Rahmonov came.[7][8] The height of hostilities occurred between 1992 and 1993 and pitted Kulyabi militias against an array of groups, including militants from the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) and ethnic minority Pamiris from Gorno-Badakhshan. In large part due to the foreign support they received, the Kulyabi militias were able to soundly defeat opposition forces and went on what has been described by Human Rights Watch as an ethnic cleansing campaign against Pamiris and Garmis.[9] The campaign was concentrated in areas south of the capital and included the murder of prominent individuals, mass killings, the burning of villages, and the expulsion of the Pamiri and Garmi population into Afghanistan. The violence was particularly concentrated in Qurghonteppa, the powerbase of the IRP and home to many Garmis. Tens of thousands were killed or fled to Afghanistan.[10][11][12][13]
Further reading
- Monica Whitlock. Land Beyond the River: The Untold Story of Central Asia, St. Martin's Press, 2003, ISBN 031227727X
- Shahram Akbarzadeh. Why did nationalism fail in Tajikistan?, Europe-Asia Studies, 1996.
- Mohammad-Reza Djalili, Frédéric Grare, and Shirin Akiner. Tajikistan: The Trials of Independence, St. Martin's Press, Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1997.
- Roy, Olivier. The New Central Asia, the Creation of Nations. London: I. B. Tauris, 2000.
- Rashid, Ahmed. "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia." London: Yale University Press, 2002
References
- ^ Central Asia's Security: Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests CRS Report for Congress
- ^ Political Construction Sites: Nation-building in Russia and the Post-Soviet States, page 77
- ^ Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, page 8. Ahmed Rashid
- ^ Political Construction Sites: Nation-building in Russia and the Post-Soviet States, page 76
- ^ Tajikistan Civil War Global Security
- ^ Political Construction Sites: Nation-building in Russia and the Post-Soviet States, page 76
- ^ Between Marx and Muhammad. Dilip Hiro.
- ^ The Resurgence of Central Asia. Ahmed Rashid
- ^ Human Rights Watch Press Backgrounder on Tajikistan Human Rights Watch
- ^ Tajikistan: Refugee reintegration and conflict prevention Open Society Institute
- ^ Human Rights Watch World Report: Tajikistan Human Rights Watch
- ^ Between Marx and Muhammad. Dilip Hiro.
- ^ The Resurgence of Central Asia. Ahmed Rashid
