Tajikistan arrests 10 suspected attack plotters: official

DUSHANBE: Police in Tajikistan arrested 10 people suspected of planning a series of attacks to destabilise the country ahead of the presidential polls this year, an official said Saturday.

The suspects, mostly young men were seized and disarmed in the capital of Dushanbe, a representative of the Tajikistan interior ministry told.

"They were preparing a series of blasts on government facilities in four districts of Dushanbe... a hostage siege, and subsequently the presentation of ultimatums to the authorities during the presidential elections," the official said.

The suspected militants are Tajik nationals and have received training in Waziristan, a region bordering Afghanistan.

Police said they have arrested the leader of the militant group, who is also the suspected organiser of a 2010 attack on a Dushanbe night club, where a bomb blast injured seven people.