Tajikistan/Germany: Radicalized Tajik Muslims arrested

According to Radio free Europe reporting on 15 April 2020, the German authorities arrested four suspected members of the Islamic State group (IS) for allegedly planning an attack on US military facilities. The four Tajiks were arrested in Siegen, Heinsberg and Werdohl in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Rolf Zeegers, Persecution analyst at World Watch Research, points out that over the last years hundreds of Tajik Muslims joined the Islamic State group fighting in the Middle East: "Although the fighting has more or less ended in Iraq and Syria, it is clear that IS is still active - now planning all kinds of attacks in various parts of the world. These radicalized Muslims also pose a serious threat to President Rahmon"s regime in Tajikistan as they return home from the battlefields abroad. The government uses the threat of radical Islamic attacks to increase its control over society. This has side-effects too: Christians also find themselves under increased surveillance."