Head of Tajikistan's military academy shot and killed

An unidentified assailant shot and killed the head of Tajikistan's military academy on Friday as he entered his vehicle, the defense ministry said. Maj. Gen. Okimsho Khafizov was getting into his car early Friday when he was gunned down, Deputy Defense Minister Abdurakhim Kakharov said.

Further information wasn't immediately available. A former Soviet republic, impoverished Tajikistan suffered five years of civil war between pro-Moscow and Islamic forces, which ended in 1997 with a United Nations-brokered power-sharing agreement, reports the AP. I.L.