Posters of 23 wanted men have gone up in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, where officials say they are moving against Islamists threatening the state. The posters have appeared in densely populated areas warning the public that the men are armed and very dangerous. Nothing is said about the crimes these alleged extremists are supposed to have committed. In recent months the authorities have had to face a string of violent incidents. In late August there was a shoot-out in Tashkent, with security forces trading fire with suspected extremists in the old part of the city
The prosecutor general's office recently said three members of a terrorist group had been killed and that others were in detention. The prosecutor also said that the men had trained abroad and were suspected of being involved in other recent crimes in the city. It is not clear whether the prosecutor's statement was referring to the August attacks or another incident in July in which unknown assailants killed an assistant at a local pro-government mosque. It is also not clear whether these crimes are connected to poster of the wanted men.
Some relatives have told human rights groups that the men are innocent. One mother, Rano Abdurasulova, told the BBC Uzbek Service that her 34-year-old son Odil had been forced into hiding. "He called me on 5 September and said: 'Mother, I swear to Allah, I'm innocent. I will be back when everything calms down. But please, don't worry and look after yourself'." Mrs Abdurasulova said her son would face torture if he was caught, and that he had previously been arrested 10 years ago for alleged links with a militant group, when he was tortured for three months.
The authorities have been tightening security since May when unidentified gunmen attacked a police station in the city of Khanabad and a suicide bomber killed a policeman and himself in the city of Andijon. The authorities say the militants have found refuge in neighbouring countries, and have closed the country's borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on several occasions. They are also building a barrier and digging trenches along some stretches of the border.