Ex-Soviet Tajikistan has announced that all imams who received their religious training abroad will be sacked, a cull the Central Asian country’s government hopes will help prevent radicalization.

“The Committee for Religious Affairs has initiated the dismissal of all imams at mosques who received religious education abroad,” a member of the committee told AFP today.

Around 20 mosque heads “have been brought to justice and convicted for involvement in extremist religious activities, the committee member said.

“These imams used the pulpit in their mosque to commit crimes,” he charged.

Source: AFP