DUSHANBE, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) claimed responsibility on Thursday for a weekend attack that killed 28 soldiers in Tajikistan, saying it was revenge for the government's crackdown on Islam.
The Tajik service of Radio Liberty quoted Abdufattoh Ahmadi, who presented himself as a spokesman for the IMU, making the statement in a video address sent to the radio station.
"This is our response to Tajikistan's government, which has lately shut down a thousand mosques, which arrests Muslims without any reason and prohibits women from wearing Muslim clothes," Ahmadi was quoted as saying by Radio Ozodi.
"We demand a stop to this policy. Otherwise, terrorist attacks will continue," Radio Ozodi quoted him as saying on its website, www.ozodi.tj.
Tajikistan's Defence Ministry had earlier accused foreign Islamist "mercenaries" from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Russian republic of Chechnya of carrying out Sunday's attack on troops in the Rasht district, about 180 km (130 miles) east of the capital Dushanbe. (Reporting by Roman Kozhevnikov; writing by Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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