The stretching political situation in Khorog which lasted several months and escalated during the last several weeks was finally resolved. The actions of the government led by the president and protestors led by the local unofficial leaders left the conflict behind. You can read about the conflict on Radio Liberty website. The unofficial leaders cautious of direct military conflict with the regular army wrote a message to the president Rahmon to intervene into the crisis situation. It worked. The conflicting sides organized a roundtable where they discussed the whole situation to save the stability in the region.

The unofficial leaders - who used to be warlords during the Civil War and got high official positions in the army and law-enforcement bodies after the Peace Accord and later were dismissed – again got an amnesty since earlier they were accused by the authorities in criminal actions. The authorities also promised not to punish those who participated in and organized the recent rallies. Good.

Even though the military commanders and other high officials in the Tajik army and other law-enforcement agencies had an aggressive mood, they were wise enough no to conduct a military operation in the Pamir Mountains several days prior to the anniversary of Peace Accord on 27th of June. I think that this conflict should be a lesson for the government to pay more attention to socio-economic situation in the remote regions, especially in such dead-lock regions as Badakhshan.

First of all the government should repair the Khorog – Dushanbe road, the only road which links this region with the rest of the country. This should be the priority for the government. It will ease the social and economic tension in the region. I know that most of the people in the region are dissatisfied with the government because of the road. Everyone admits that the government is doing nothing for the region and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is the only agency which works hard to improve the living conditions of the people. But AKDN can not do everything for the government. It also should take measures to improve the life of the impoverished people.

Thanks to AKDN the region is still stable. The further actions should be made by the government. Again I am repeating myself, first of all the road should be built/repaired, because what we have now in Badakhshan can not be called a road. This dead-lock region can not survive without this road. This road means life for people who live there.