Police clash with armed gang in Tajikistan; at least 2 dead

Police in Tajikistan say an armed group has attacked a police station in a town near the capital and two of the attackers were killed.

Local media cited unnamed officials as saying four policemen also died in Friday's fighting in Vakhdat, but authorities have declined to confirm those figures.

The clashes followed the fatal beating of a young man. The man's relatives accused police of being responsible and said he was targeted for detention because he wore a beard.

Authorities in Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic where the population is mainly Sunni Muslim, have informally waged war on signs of what they perceive to be excess religiosity.
 

Young men are said to be pressured not have beards and official state media have mounted campaigns against women wearing veils.