DUSHANBE. July 10 (Interfax) - More than 1,140 Tajik citizens have joined the Islamic State terrorist organization, which is banned in many countries including Russia, since its formation in 2014, Tajik presidential center for strategic studies deputy director Saifullo Safarov said.
The deaths of some 300 of Tajik citizens in action in Syria and Iraq have been confirmed, Safarov told a press conference in Dushanbe on Monday.
At least 70 people, a majority of who were amnestied, have returned to Tajikistan from this region, he said. The presence of these people in Tajikistan poses no threats to the country's security, as they are all under the authorities' control, Safarov said.
The number of Tajik citizens turning to the Tajik consulate in Turkey seeking their return home has grown drastically after the operations began in Iraq's Mosul and Syria's al-Raqqah, he said.
The intensification of opposition organizations, including the Islamic Renaissance Party in European countries poses a threat to Tajikistan's national security, he said. "The country's government should take relevant measures to prevent situations such as those in Syria, Iraq and Libya," Safarov said.
"These opposition and radical groups, which also have radicals in their ranks, may threaten the safety of European countries in the future," Safarov said.
An opposition rally devoted to the 20th anniversary of signing the Tajik peace agreement was held in Germany's Dortmund on July 9. Representatives of the Islamic Renaissance Party and Group 24 took part in it.
In September 2015, the Islamic Renaissance Party was accused of masterminding a mutiny in Tajikistan that was led by former Tajik Deputy Defense Minister Abdukhalim Nazarzoda and was declared a terrorist structure. Group 24 was earlier declared a terrorist organization in the territory of Tajikistan.