Tajikistan's president says some 200 Tajik nationals have joined Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria.

Addressing the ruling People's Democratic Party meeting on September 18, President Emomali Rahmon said that 30 Tajiks fighting alongside the jihadi groups have been killed abroad, while several others have been arrested upon their return to Tajikistan. 

Rahmon said Tajikistan's stability faces a growing threat from religious extremist groups and that countering extremism, especially among the younger generation, will be the ruling party's priority. 

Tajik authorities detained a woman this week who was allegedly trying to leave the country to join her jihadist husband in Syria.

The woman, identified as a resident of the Shahrak village in northern Isfara district was reportedly traveling with her three young children.

Local authorities say they believe about 20 people from Shahrak alone have left for Syria.