Tashkent, Uzbekistan
At least 23 people, including two female suicide bombers, were killed in the Uzbek capital this week, in clashes that Uzbek officials blamed on international terrorists. “The character and method of this act is not common to our people,” chief prosecutor Rashid Kadyrov said. “It was probably exported from abroad.” Uzbekistan has had trouble in the past with Islamic militants said to be linked to al Qaida, although most of those arrested have been Uzbeks. Authorities have responded with a severe crackdown on all Islamic religious expression, torturing dissidents and closing mosques.
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