Tajik leaders 'losing control'

Dushanbe (Reuter) - Tajikistan's new government is losing control of the country because rebel armed groups are gaining strength, according to Jurabek Aminov, deputy head of the government-controlled Tajik National Security Committee.

Mr Aminov said the power of the government did not extend beyond the capital, Dushanbe. '(It) is growing weaker and weaker whereas the thousands of illegal troops are getting stronger,' he said.

The new government took over last month after President Rakhmon Nabiyev was forced to resign at gunpoint. Hundreds of people died in clashes.