Access to the social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki has been blocked in Tajikistan. Access to the website of independent local information agency ASIA-Plus has also been restricted.
No official explanation regarding the blocking of websites has been given. Asomiddin Atoyev, the head of the Association of Internet Providers of Tajikistan, said that the restrictions may have been a reaction to the video message from the ex-commander of the Tajikistani OMON team (special police force) calling for Tajikistan to wage jihad. The former commander, Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, had left Tajikistan to join the Islamic State in May.
News agency Interfax reports that access to YouTube, which features Khalimov’s video message, has been blocked in Tajiskistan for the past several months.
Access to the website of the radio station Ozodi (Radio Liberty) has been blocked, as well as access to social networks Odnoklassniki and Vkontate. The popular video website YouTube, where the video message of the ex-commander of OMON who fled to Syria was posted, remains blocked.
Gulmurod Khalimov served as commander of the Tajikistani OMON team for three years. He was awarded several medals for outstanding service. His whereabouts have been unknown since April 23. In early May, reports emerged that Khalimov had left Tajikistan to join ISIL.
On May 28, a video was posted online in which Khalimov declared that he had joined the Islamic State. In the video message, Khalimov calls on Tajikistan to wage jihad in both the Russian and Tajik languages. The colonel says that “the caliphate will reach Tajikistan and reclaim its lands.”