Emomali Rakhmon

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon on Saturday signed a law to create a holiday honouring his autocratic rule in a move that fuels fears of a burgeoning personality cult in the Central Asian state.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Tajikistan today to talk about security threats on its Afghan border, on the fourth leg of a five-nation tour of Central Asia.

Farrukh Sharifov, a 25-year-old Tajik who repented after joining the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, spoke softly as he addressed a room full of journalists and police in his Central Asian homeland.

The president of Tajikistan on Saturday called the Islamic State group a modern "plague", expressing concern that several hundred young people had left the ex-Soviet republic to fight with jihadists in Syria.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon on Saturday signed a law to create a holiday honouring his autocratic rule in a move that fuels fears of a burgeoning personality cult in the Central Asian state.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Tajikistan today to talk about security threats on its Afghan border, on the fourth leg of a five-nation tour of Central Asia.

Farrukh Sharifov, a 25-year-old Tajik who repented after joining the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, spoke softly as he addressed a room full of journalists and police in his Central Asian homeland.

The president of Tajikistan on Saturday called the Islamic State group a modern "plague", expressing concern that several hundred young people had left the ex-Soviet republic to fight with jihadists in Syria.