DUSHANBE -- Tajik police have arrested 113 people on suspicion of being members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.
Prosecutor-General Yusuf Rahmon told reporters on January 28 that the suspects included 20 teachers and employees of various universities, two foreigners, and one official from the northern city of Isfara.
"The group's goal is to forcibly overthrow the government and establish an Islamic state, and it has been banned as a terrorist and extremist organization in many countries," Rahmon said.
Sources in Tajikistan's law enforcement have told RFE/RL that dozens of suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood were detained in recent weeks.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928 by the Islamic scholar Hassan al-Banna.
The group's teachings have spread internationally and have influenced various Islamic groups, movements, and parties around the world -- some of which do not use the same name.
The group claims to be peaceful but has been banned in many countries as an extremist organization.
Tajik authorities banned the Muslim Brotherhood as an extremist group in 2006.
