Some 40 officers serving in Uzbekistan's National Security Service (MXX) have reportedly been dismissed or arrested.
Sources close to the Uzbek government told RFE/RL on July 2 that one of the most powerful officials serving in the ranks of the MXX, Colonel Javdat Sharifhojaev, was among the officers who were arrested.
There have been no official statements about the dismissals or arrests, which occurred last week.
If confirmed, it would be the second mass purge conducted within Uzbekistan's law enforcement bodies since early June, when some 100 employees of Uzbekistan's State Customs Committee (UDBK) were reportedly arrested on corruption charges.
According to earlier reports, the chief of the UDBK's Anticontraband Directorate, Aziz Abdurakhmonov, and his deputy, Aziz Khasanov, were among those arrested.
Uzbek authorities have not commented on those reports either.
