At Least One Dead In Fresh Violence in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan

By RFE/RL
May 24, 2014

At least one person was killed and two injured when a crowd attacked a security forces' building in Tajikistan's eastern Gorno-Badakhshan region overnight. 
 
RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported on May 24 that a group of protesters marched on the building on the National Security Service in the regional capital Khorugh and shooting started.
 
The protesters have been on Khorugh's central square since May 21, when a gunfight between suspected drug smugglers and police left two people dead and one wounded.
 
The wounded person died in the hospital overnight, sparking the march on the security forces' building.
 
Witnesses reported that one of the protesters threw a grenade at the security forces' building and some protesters opened fire on the facility.
 
Tajikistan's government has only had tenuous control over Khorugh and the Gorno-Badakhshan region since the country became independent in 1991.
 
The region is a known haven for drugs and arms smugglers and militants.
 
With reporting by Asia-Plus and ITAR-TASS