Tajikistan To Install Security Cameras, Metal Detectors In Mosques

Tajikistan, mosque, March 4.

Tajik authorities will install security cameras and metal detectors in all mosques in the capital, Dushanbe, the office of the city mayor said on March 29.

It said the measure is aimed at providing security for the worshippers and helping to strengthen public order.

The office of the mayor said the equipment will be installed at the expense of the mosques and their worshippers.

The AFP news agency quoted a government source as saying on condition of anonymity the measure was meant to "track the contingent praying at the mosque, to identify among believers potential followers of Salafism," referring to an ultra-conservative brand of Sunni Islam.

The staunchly secular government of President Emomali Rahmon tightly controls the country's religious institutions, including the appointment of mosque imams.

The country's Religious Affairs Committee even provides a list of topics it deems suitable for mosque sermons.

With reporting by AFP