The Islamic State* terrorist organization (banned in Russia) claimed responsibility for the death of four foreign tourists after a car rammed into a group of cyclists in Tajikistan.
Representatives of SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors activities of terrorists, said that the attackers were "soldiers of the Islamic State*" who committed the attack in response to calls to attack foreign citizens, natives of the countries of the international anti-terrorist coalition.
Yet, spokespeople for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan said that they did not believe in the statement from the terrorist group. The Tajik authorities hold the Islamic Revival Party (banned in Tajikistan) responsible for the attack.
The incident occurred on July 29 in a rural area near Dushanbe, Tajikistan. A car rammed into a group of cyclists killing three of them instantly, whereas another one died later at hospital. The cyclists were citizens of the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Three other people were injured.
Interior Minister of Tajikistan Ramazon Rakhimzoda, commenting on the incident, said that investigators did not exclude the version of the terrorist attack. The footage from surveillance cameras shows that the attack was intentional. The video of the incident shows a car ramming into tourists, then turning back and crushes victims again.
The incident has become the first-ever attack on foreign citizens in Tajikistan.
*terrorist organization, banned in Russia