Officials say explosion no accident

An explosion on Monday in the Tajik capital Dushanbe was not an accident as had been at first suggested, according to government officials. One person was killed and four others injured in the blast. "The preliminary version, an explosion because of gas [leakage], has not been confirmed," Sarvar Azimova, Head of the Public Information Centre at the Security Ministry (SM) of Tajikistan, told IRIN from Dushanbe, on Wednesday. "Currently the causes of the explosion are being investigated and a criminal case on the incident is under way." A car exploded close to the Tajik Emergency Ministry killing the driver and injuring the passengers of the vehicle. "The blast was pretty powerful because the [Emergency Ministry] building suffered damage and all the window panes were blown away, not only in our building but in the buildings nearby," Jamilya Tilloeva, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told IRIN earlier. A local journalist, who wished to remain anonymous, told IRIN from Dushanbe that many people in Dushanbe considered the blast a deliberate act, though the motive remained unclear. "I don't think it was related to upcoming parliamentary elections. Many observes tend to see it as an act of criminal terrorism." According to the journalist, an explosion two or three days before the polls might be linked to the election but with 25 days until voting starts that seems unlikely. Voldemar Rokashevski, a political affairs officer with the UN Tajikistan Office of Peace-building (UNTOP), confirmed the various official statements. "According to the information made public in Dushanbe by relevant [Tajik] agencies it was a terrorist attack because it was not, as reported at the very beginning, simply a gas explosion," he told IRIN. Parliamentary elections are scheduled in Tajikistan on 27 February and some reports claim that the incident was aimed at destabilising the situation in the country ahead of polls. Other observers maintain that there is no clear political motive behind the incident. "There are no indications that this was connected to the forthcoming general elections of 27 February," Rokashevski said.