Four tourists, including two Americans, were killed in Tajikistan on Sunday by armed attackers in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident, the interior minister said Monday.

"(The suspects) had knives and firearms," minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda said of the attack that left tourists from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands dead and two others injured.

The dead were on a cycling tour in the impoverished ex-Soviet nation, in a group with three other tourists from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France.

"One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable," said Rahimzoda without mentioning nationality.

Another was being treated in hospital, while the French citizen survived without injury and was being questioned by the police, he added.

Two suspects in the case were killed after they "resisted arrest" and a further four have been detained, the minister said.

Police are also pursuing other suspects.

"We are considering all possibilities," Rahimzoda said of the criminal investigation.

"We can't say if it is an act of terror," he added.

However the minister said that "state institutions are being guarded...to provide safety for citizens and tourists".

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths.

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed two of the fatalities were US citizens, but did not disclose names.

The incident took place in the district of Danghara, 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by the iron hand of Rakhmon, 65, since 1992.</s>The Islamic State jihadist group on Monday claimed an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car and attacked on Sunday while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

"(The suspects) had knives and firearms," said interior minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, adding that two other cyclists, Swiss and Dutch nationals, were injured and hospitalised.

"One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable," said Rahimzoda, without mentioning a nationality.

Another cyclist with the group, a French citizen, escaped without injury and had been questioned by police, he added.

In a statement published Monday, IS said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" had carried out the attack against "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," according to intelligence monitor SITE.

Five people suspected of involvement in the attack were killed by police and at least four suspects detained, according to separate police accounts.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

A Belgian cyclist who said he arrived at the scene after the attack told Flemish broadcaster VRT that he saw "several cyclists on the ground. Some were completely shocked".

"When I asked what had happened, the first thing someone said was that they had been hit by a car and that the people who had come out had started stabbing them with knives," cyclist Nicolas Moerman said.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

"We can't say if it is an act of terror," Rahimzoda said earlier on Monday.

"We are considering all possibilities," he added but said that "state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists".

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

The Swiss foreign ministry on Monday told AFP that Switzerland "calls for every effort to be made to shed light on this serious incident".

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in (Switzerland's) future travel advice for Tajikistan," said ministry spokeswoman Silvia Muller while noting that the motive for the attack was still unclear.

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the country's embassy in Tajikistan was "engaged in facilitating the return" of the French survivor of the attack.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths and called for increased security throughout the country at a special meeting on Monday with the country's law enforcement chiefs.

Tajik authorities had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" in the former Soviet republic.

In June, Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be deemed "traitors" and fired from their positions.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by Rakhmon, 65, since 1992.</s>MOSCOW -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for an attack in Tajikistan that left four cycle tourists, including two Americans, dead over the weekend. The terror group released a video later on Tuesday purportedly showing the five men who carried out the attack pledging allegiance to its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Tajik police earlier issued a statement blaming a banned Islamist political party for the attack, in which a driver allegedly rammed his car into the group of foreign cyclists and then joined his passengers in going after them with knives.

ISIS initially claimed responsibility for the attack in a generic statement late Monday, offering no proof of a connection, but on Tuesday the group disseminated the two-minute and 40 second video showing five young men sitting under a tree on a hilltop, speaking Tajik with Arabic subtitles, pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi but saying nothing specific about any attack plot.

Authorities in the ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia said Monday that they were considering an extremist plot among the possible motives for the attack.

A file photo shows a touring bicycle parked along the M41 Pamir Highway, in the Pamir Mountain Range of Tajikistan. iStockphoto

A Daewoo sedan plowed into the group of seven foreign bicyclists about 60 miles south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Sunday, according to local police. The people in the vehicle then "exited the car and stabbed the cyclists with knives," the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan said in a statement Monday.

Four of the cyclists died and three others, including a woman from Switzerland, were injured, Tajik officials said.

Two of the victims were American, one was Swiss, and another was from the Netherlands, foreign and Tajik officials said. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sent the leaders of each country a telegram expressing condolences Monday.

United States Charge dAffaires in Tajikistan, Kevin Covert, met people at the American embassy in Dushanbe who came to pay their tributes to the victims of the attack.

The United States Charge dAffaires, Kevin Covert (R) speaks with a man as people come to pay their tribute to the victims of a deadly attack, at the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, July 31, 2018. Getty

Earlier on Tuesday, citing what it said was the confession of a detained suspect, Tajikistan's interior ministry said the Sunday attack leader was trained in Iran and that the group had planned to flee to Afghanistan after the attack, according to the Reuters news agency. The Ministry blamed the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) for the attack. That group was banned in 2015, accused of plotting a coup.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said four suspects were killed and one taken into custody on Monday, and then four more people taken into custody for suspected links on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Interior Minister Ramazon Rakhimzoda told reporters earlier that one of the survivors had knife wounds and police found knives and guns with some of the suspects. He described the car crash as "an attack," and said investigators were examining all possibilities, including a road accident, murder and terrorism.

The State Department issued a statement Monday condemning what it called a "senseless attack" and expressing "deepest condolences" to the families of the people killed. The department said it could not provide more information about the U.S. citizens due to "privacy concerns," but that U.S. officials were working closely with Tajik authorities.

Swiss Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Silvia Mueller said that while the circumstances of the crash were unclear, the Swiss government's travel advice for Tajikistan notes there is a risk of attacks and poor road travel conditions in the Central Asian country.

"Should it turn out to have been a terrorist act, this would be recorded in the travel advice," Mueller said.

The State Department encouraged Americans headed abroad to monitor government advisories for updated information on where it is safe to travel.</s>Four tourists, including two Americans, were killed in Tajikistan by armed attackers in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The attack on Sunday left tourists from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands dead and two others injured, the interior ministry said.

It took place in the district of Danghara, 90 miles south of the capital Dushanbe.

'(The suspects) had knives and firearms,' minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda said.

The dead were on a cycling tour in the impoverished ex-Soviet nation, in a group with three other tourists from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France, when the car rammed into them.

'One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable,' said Rahimzoda, without mentioning their nationality.

Another was being treated in hospital, while the French citizen survived without injury and was being questioned by the police, he added.

Two suspects in the case were killed after they 'resisted arrest' and a further four have been detained, the minister said.

Police are also pursuing other suspects.

'We are considering all possibilities,' Rahimzoda said of the criminal investigation.

'We can't say if it is an act of terror,' he added.

However, the minister said that 'state institutions are being guarded...to provide safety for citizens and tourists'.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths.

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed two of the fatalities were US citizens, but did not disclose their names.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by the iron hand of Rakhmon, 65, since 1992.</s>DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN (AFP) - The Islamic State extremist group on Monday (July 30) claimed an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car and attacked on Sunday (July 29) while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres south of the capital Dushanbe.

"(The suspects) had knives and firearms," said interior minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, adding that two other cyclists, Swiss and Dutch nationals, were injured and hospitalised.

"One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable," said Rahimzoda, without mentioning a nationality.

Another cyclist with the group, a French citizen, escaped without injury and had been questioned by police, he added.

In a statement published Monday, ISIS said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" had carried out the attack against "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," according to intelligence monitor SITE.

Five people suspected of involvement in the attack were killed by police and at least four suspects detained, according to separate police accounts.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

A Belgian cyclist who said he arrived at the scene after the attack told Flemish broadcaster VRT that he saw "several cyclists on the ground. Some were completely shocked".

"When I asked what had happened, the first thing someone said was that they had been hit by a car and that the people who had come out had started stabbing them with knives," cyclist Nicolas Moerman said.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

"We can't say if it is an act of terror," Rahimzoda said earlier on Monday.

"We are considering all possibilities," he added but said that "state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists".

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

The Swiss foreign ministry on Monday told AFP that Switzerland "calls for every effort to be made to shed light on this serious incident".

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in (Switzerland's) future travel advice for Tajikistan," said ministry spokeswoman Silvia Muller while noting that the motive for the attack was still unclear.

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the country's embassy in Tajikistan was "engaged in facilitating the return" of the French survivor of the attack.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths and called for increased security throughout the country at a special meeting on Monday with the country's law enforcement chiefs.

Tajik authorities had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" in the former Soviet republic.

In June, Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be deemed "traitors" and fired from their positions.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by Rakhmon, 65, since 1992.</s>Four tourists killed, three more injured by car in possible terrorist act in Tajikstan

A hit-and-run driver has killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what may have been a terrorist act, the Central Asian country's Interior Minister has said.

The tourists, from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands, were killed on Sunday, Tajik authorities said.

Three more, from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France, were injured — and one of them also had a stab wound.

Security forces pursuing suspects in the attack killed four, including one as he was resisting arrest, and detained a fifth man, the former Soviet republic's interior ministry said.

Among the four suspects killed was the owner of the car, which police believe hit the tourists as they were cycling through a rural area 90 kilometres south-east of the capital Dushanbe.

A purported video of the incident published online by Radio Free Europe and credited to an anonymous source showed a car doing a U-turn on a narrow road after it had already knocked down a group of cyclists and then running over a few of them again.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's AMAQ news agency claimed, but did not provide further detail or evidence for its claim.

The attackers "were soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the attack in response to calls to target the citizens of the coalition countries," a statement by the group said.

A "wanted" notice disseminated by Tajik authorities named two suspects aged 18 and 19 from the same village close to the Tajik-Afghan border, and a third one, 21, from the town of Nurek located not far from the site of the attack.

The US Embassy said it could not name the two US victims due to privacy concerns, but indicated that it also considered the incident to be an intentional attack.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of one Swiss national and said it was in contact with the second tourist, who has been injured.

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in future travel advice for Tajikistan," the ministry said in a statement.

Britain's Foreign Office urged UK tourists in Tajikistan, particularly those hiking or cycling in its south, "to exercise extreme caution and vigilance during their visit", citing "the first incident of this kind in Tajikistan".

The Government of Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon — who expressed condolences to the US, Swiss and Dutch authorities on Monday — fought Islamist guerrillas in a 1992-1997 civil war that claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Some Tajik Islamists then joined a coalition government, but in 2015 the state outlawed their political party, accusing its leaders of being behind a failed coup, a charge they deny.

Thousands of people from the mainly Muslim region have joined Islamic State militants in recent years.

Several men from Central Asia were detained last year over a bombing of the metro in Russia's St Petersburg, and over truck attacks in New York and Stockholm.</s>The victims were reportedly among the group of seven touring the country and riding in the Danghara district, about 150 kilometres south of the Central Asian republic's capital, Dushanbe. According to the media reports, a vehicle was driven into the group of cyclists who were then attacked by at least one person armed with a knife and a gun.

Two US citizens reportedly lost their lives as well as a Dutch and a Swiss national. Three others, from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France, were injured, one of them reportedly also from a stab wound.

"The tragic death of two citizens of the United States, one Dutch national and one Swiss citizen as a result of a car crashing into a group of cycling tourists on a Tajikistan motorway were met with great sadness and regret," Rahmon said in a telegram sent to the US, Dutch and Swiss leaders.

The Tajikistan's Interior Ministry said Monday that the suspects have been found and killed.

According to Reuters, thousands of people from the Central Asian region have joined Daesh terrorists in recent years. Several men from Central Asia were detained last year over ramming attacks in New York and Stockholm.</s>The Islamic State jihadist group on Monday claimed an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car and attacked on Sunday while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

"(The suspects) had knives and firearms," said interior minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, adding that two other cyclists, Swiss and Dutch nationals, were injured and hospitalised.

"One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable," said Rahimzoda, without mentioning a nationality.

Another cyclist with the group, a French citizen, escaped without injury and had been questioned by police, he added.

In a statement published Monday, IS said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" had carried out the attack against "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," according to intelligence monitor SITE.

Five people suspected of involvement in the attack were killed by police and at least four suspects detained, according to separate police accounts.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

A Belgian cyclist who said he arrived at the scene after the attack told Flemish broadcaster VRT that he saw "several cyclists on the ground. Some were completely shocked".

"When I asked what had happened, the first thing someone said was that they had been hit by a car and that the people who had come out had started stabbing them with knives," cyclist Nicolas Moerman said.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

"We can't say if it is an act of terror," Rahimzoda said earlier on Monday.

"We are considering all possibilities," he added but said that "state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists".

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

The Swiss foreign ministry on Monday told AFP that Switzerland "calls for every effort to be made to shed light on this serious incident".

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in (Switzerland's) future travel advice for Tajikistan," said ministry spokeswoman Silvia Muller while noting that the motive for the attack was still unclear.

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the country's embassy in Tajikistan was "engaged in facilitating the return" of the French survivor of the attack.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths and called for increased security throughout the country at a special meeting on Monday with the country's law enforcement chiefs.

Tajik authorities had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" in the former Soviet republic.

In June, Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be deemed "traitors" and fired from their positions.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by Rakhmon, 65, since 1992.</s>DUSHANBE (Tajikistan), July 30 — Four tourists, including two Americans, were killed in Tajikistan by armed attackers in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident, the Central Asian country’s interior minister said today.

“(The suspects) had knives and firearms,” minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda said of the attack yesterday that left tourists from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands dead and two others injured.

The victims were cycling a popular route in the impoverished ex-Soviet nation, in a group with three other tourists from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France.

“One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim’s condition is stable,” said Rahimzoda, without mentioning nationality.

Another was being treated in hospital, while the French citizen survived without injury and had been questioned by the police, he added.

According to separate police accounts published on Sunday and Monday, at least four suspects have been detained and a further five killed in showdowns with law enforcement.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP today that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man, who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

‘Can’t say if act of terror’

“We are considering all possibilities,” Rahimzoda said of the criminal investigation at the Monday press conference.

“We can’t say if it is an act of terror,” he added.

However the minister said that “state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists”.

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths.

The incident took place in Rakhmon’s home district of Danghara, 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

One of the suspects killed by police was the 21-year-old owner of the Daewoo Leganza that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, Jafariddin Yusufov, who hails from the town of Nurek.

In June Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be fired from their positions as “traitors”.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said. Two years ago, the country introduced a simplified e-visa system for citizens of 80 countries.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by the iron hand of Rakhmon, 65, since 1992. — AFP</s>IS claims responsibility for Tajikistan attack that killed 4

MOSCOW (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a weekend attack on Western tourists in Tajikistan that left four people killed.

A car rammed into a group of cyclists south of the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Sunday. The driver then joined the passengers in attacking the tourists with knives, leaving four dead and three injured.

Authorities in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation had said terrorism was a possible motive.

In a statement late Monday the Islamic State said that a group of its soldiers attacked the "citizens of the Crusader coalition."

The Islamic State group usually refers to the U.S.-led coalition that is fighting it in Syria and Iraq as crusaders.

The statement did not say how many militants took part in the attack.
ISIL claims responsibility for an attack in Tajikistan that occurred two days prior and left four cycling tourists dead.