Leader of an organized criminal group, as the Tajik authorities call him, Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov was killed in the administrative center of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in the city of Khorog. RIA Novosti reports.
«Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov was killed as a result of internal criminal squabbles,» the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan told reporters.
It is noted that he was charged with staging riots in Khorog, anti-government rallies and blocking the Khorog-Kulma international highway connecting Tajikistan with China.
Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov is a former commander of the self-defense forces of the region. In May 2022, the regional interior ministry named him as one of the organizers of a protest that escalated into clashes, in which, according to official figures, at least nine people were killed.
Protests have been going on since May 14. A rally was held in Barkhorog microdistrict on that day with participation of about 200 people.
The protesters demand resignation of the head of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region Alisher Mirzonabot and the mayor of Khorog Rizo Nazarzoda, bringing to justice those responsible for the death of 29-year-old local resident Gulbiddin Ziebekov in November 2021, release of those detained after the November protests, removal of all roadblocks in Khorog and end to the persecution of Badakhshan residents.
