Four cycling tourists, including two Americans, were killed in an attack in Tajikistan, authorities told ABC News. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter post Monday.A group of seven cyclists was heading north in Danghara district, about 55 miles southeast of the capital Dushanbe, when they were struck by a car with five armed people onboard on Sunday. Tajikistan's interior minister said that, after striking the cyclists, the people in the car got out and attacked them with a firearm and a knife.The two Americans, a woman and a man, were killed along with a Swiss man and a Dutch national.Authorities said at the time they believed it may have been a deliberate terrorist attack, although they had not ruled out armed robbery. On Monday afternoon, an IS terror group issued a statement on Twitter in Arabic claiming the attack.The post said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" launched to strike "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," running them over and then using knives, killing four and wounding four others. It declared, "We give glad tidings to the citizens of the Crusader coalition countries with what will disturb them, and what is coming is more devastating and bitter, Allah permitting."Earlier on Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe condemned the attack and sent condolences to the families. The embassy issued a security alert, urging safety precautions, but saying there was "no evidence that indicates a heightened level of threat to U.S. citizens."A State Department official told ABC News the U.S. was "aware of reports that this may have been a terrorist act," but referred to Tajik authorities, who are leading the investigation.The American victims were not named, due to privacy concerns, but officials condemned the attack."We strongly condemn the cruelty of the attackers and recognize that they in no way represent the kindness and hospitality of the Tajik people," the embassy said in a statement If confirmed by authorities, this would be the first time Americans have been killed in a terrorist attack outside the U.S. since an August 2017 attack in Barcelona.Three other bikers who were Dutch and Swiss were also injured before the attackers drove away; one Swiss woman was stabbed and is no longer in critical condition. A French citizen was brought in for a check up, but sustained no injuries, a Tajik health official told ABC News.Five attackers were involved in the incident, Tajik officials said earlier Monday. Authorities said they have arrested four suspects and recovered a damaged Leganza they believe was involved in the incident, which was initially reported as a hit-and-run. One other person was resisting arrest and was "eliminated" as a suspect.The U.S. Embassy confirmed the attack with multiple sources and said that Tajikistan's ministry of internal affairs had detained one suspect and killed at least three others.Tajikistan had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" and authorities have been cautious about labeling the incident as terrorism."We are looking at versions that this was an accident, armed robbery, murder. The version of a terrorist act is also not being excluded," interior minister Ramazon Rakhimzoda told press in Dushanbe earlier today.The investigation has been put under the personal control of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.Rahmon sent telegrams expressing his condolences to President Donald Trump, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Swiss President Alain Berset, authorities said.In the letters, he was said to have told President Trump that Tajik authorities were doing everything they could to bring the perpetrators of the "vicious act" to justice.The roads through the mountains and valleys of Tajikistan and Central Asia are enticing to serious cyclists. The Pamir highway is said to be the second highest road on earth. Only the Karakoram Highway in neighboring China is higher, by a slender margin.Tajikistan is one of the poorest former Soviet republics and has struggled with poverty and instability since its independence in 1991. </s> IS claims responsibility for Tajikistan attack that killed 4

MOSCOW (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a weekend attack on Western tourists in Tajikistan that left four people killed.

A car rammed into a group of cyclists south of the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Sunday. The driver then joined the passengers in attacking the tourists with knives, leaving four dead and three injured.

Authorities in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation had said terrorism was a possible motive.

In a statement late Monday the Islamic State said that a group of its soldiers attacked the "citizens of the Crusader coalition."

The Islamic State group usually refers to the U.S.-led coalition that is fighting it in Syria and Iraq as crusaders.

The statement did not say how many militants took part in the attack. </s> The Islamic State jihadist group on Monday claimed an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car and attacked on Sunday while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

"(The suspects) had knives and firearms," said interior minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, adding that two other cyclists, Swiss and Dutch nationals, were injured and hospitalised.

"One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable," said Rahimzoda, without mentioning a nationality.

Another cyclist with the group, a French citizen, escaped without injury and had been questioned by police, he added.

In a statement published Monday, IS said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" had carried out the attack against "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," according to intelligence monitor SITE.

Five people suspected of involvement in the attack were killed by police and at least four suspects detained, according to separate police accounts.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

A Belgian cyclist who said he arrived at the scene after the attack told Flemish broadcaster VRT that he saw "several cyclists on the ground. Some were completely shocked".

"When I asked what had happened, the first thing someone said was that they had been hit by a car and that the people who had come out had started stabbing them with knives," cyclist Nicolas Moerman said.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

"We can't say if it is an act of terror," Rahimzoda said earlier on Monday.

"We are considering all possibilities," he added but said that "state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists".

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

The Swiss foreign ministry on Monday told AFP that Switzerland "calls for every effort to be made to shed light on this serious incident".

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in (Switzerland's) future travel advice for Tajikistan," said ministry spokeswoman Silvia Muller while noting that the motive for the attack was still unclear.

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the country's embassy in Tajikistan was "engaged in facilitating the return" of the French survivor of the attack.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths and called for increased security throughout the country at a special meeting on Monday with the country's law enforcement chiefs.

Tajik authorities had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" in the former Soviet republic.

In June, Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be deemed "traitors" and fired from their positions.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by Rakhmon, 65, since 1992. </s> DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN (AFP) - The Islamic State extremist group on Monday (July 30) claimed an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car and attacked on Sunday (July 29) while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres south of the capital Dushanbe.

"(The suspects) had knives and firearms," said interior minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, adding that two other cyclists, Swiss and Dutch nationals, were injured and hospitalised.

"One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable," said Rahimzoda, without mentioning a nationality.

Another cyclist with the group, a French citizen, escaped without injury and had been questioned by police, he added.

In a statement published Monday, ISIS said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" had carried out the attack against "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," according to intelligence monitor SITE.

Five people suspected of involvement in the attack were killed by police and at least four suspects detained, according to separate police accounts.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

A Belgian cyclist who said he arrived at the scene after the attack told Flemish broadcaster VRT that he saw "several cyclists on the ground. Some were completely shocked".

"When I asked what had happened, the first thing someone said was that they had been hit by a car and that the people who had come out had started stabbing them with knives," cyclist Nicolas Moerman said.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

"We can't say if it is an act of terror," Rahimzoda said earlier on Monday.

"We are considering all possibilities," he added but said that "state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists".

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

The Swiss foreign ministry on Monday told AFP that Switzerland "calls for every effort to be made to shed light on this serious incident".

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in (Switzerland's) future travel advice for Tajikistan," said ministry spokeswoman Silvia Muller while noting that the motive for the attack was still unclear.

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the country's embassy in Tajikistan was "engaged in facilitating the return" of the French survivor of the attack.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths and called for increased security throughout the country at a special meeting on Monday with the country's law enforcement chiefs.

Tajik authorities had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" in the former Soviet republic.

In June, Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be deemed "traitors" and fired from their positions.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by Rakhmon, 65, since 1992. </s> MOSCOW -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for an attack in Tajikistan that left four cycle tourists, including two Americans, dead over the weekend. The terror group released a video later on Tuesday purportedly showing the five men who carried out the attack pledging allegiance to its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Tajik police earlier issued a statement blaming a banned Islamist political party for the attack, in which a driver allegedly rammed his car into the group of foreign cyclists and then joined his passengers in going after them with knives.

ISIS initially claimed responsibility for the attack in a generic statement late Monday, offering no proof of a connection, but on Tuesday the group disseminated the two-minute and 40 second video showing five young men sitting under a tree on a hilltop, speaking Tajik with Arabic subtitles, pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi but saying nothing specific about any attack plot.

Authorities in the ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia said Monday that they were considering an extremist plot among the possible motives for the attack.

A file photo shows a touring bicycle parked along the M41 Pamir Highway, in the Pamir Mountain Range of Tajikistan. iStockphoto

A Daewoo sedan plowed into the group of seven foreign bicyclists about 60 miles south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Sunday, according to local police. The people in the vehicle then "exited the car and stabbed the cyclists with knives," the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan said in a statement Monday.

Four of the cyclists died and three others, including a woman from Switzerland, were injured, Tajik officials said.

Two of the victims were American, one was Swiss, and another was from the Netherlands, foreign and Tajik officials said. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sent the leaders of each country a telegram expressing condolences Monday.

United States Charge dAffaires in Tajikistan, Kevin Covert, met people at the American embassy in Dushanbe who came to pay their tributes to the victims of the attack.

The United States Charge dAffaires, Kevin Covert (R) speaks with a man as people come to pay their tribute to the victims of a deadly attack, at the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, July 31, 2018. Getty

Earlier on Tuesday, citing what it said was the confession of a detained suspect, Tajikistan's interior ministry said the Sunday attack leader was trained in Iran and that the group had planned to flee to Afghanistan after the attack, according to the Reuters news agency. The Ministry blamed the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) for the attack. That group was banned in 2015, accused of plotting a coup.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said four suspects were killed and one taken into custody on Monday, and then four more people taken into custody for suspected links on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Interior Minister Ramazon Rakhimzoda told reporters earlier that one of the survivors had knife wounds and police found knives and guns with some of the suspects. He described the car crash as "an attack," and said investigators were examining all possibilities, including a road accident, murder and terrorism.

The State Department issued a statement Monday condemning what it called a "senseless attack" and expressing "deepest condolences" to the families of the people killed. The department said it could not provide more information about the U.S. citizens due to "privacy concerns," but that U.S. officials were working closely with Tajik authorities.

Swiss Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Silvia Mueller said that while the circumstances of the crash were unclear, the Swiss government's travel advice for Tajikistan notes there is a risk of attacks and poor road travel conditions in the Central Asian country.

"Should it turn out to have been a terrorist act, this would be recorded in the travel advice," Mueller said.

The State Department encouraged Americans headed abroad to monitor government advisories for updated information on where it is safe to travel. </s> Four tourists killed, three more injured by car in possible terrorist act in Tajikstan

A hit-and-run driver has killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan in what may have been a terrorist act, the Central Asian country's Interior Minister has said.

The tourists, from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands, were killed on Sunday, Tajik authorities said.

Three more, from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France, were injured — and one of them also had a stab wound.

Security forces pursuing suspects in the attack killed four, including one as he was resisting arrest, and detained a fifth man, the former Soviet republic's interior ministry said.

Among the four suspects killed was the owner of the car, which police believe hit the tourists as they were cycling through a rural area 90 kilometres south-east of the capital Dushanbe.

A purported video of the incident published online by Radio Free Europe and credited to an anonymous source showed a car doing a U-turn on a narrow road after it had already knocked down a group of cyclists and then running over a few of them again.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's AMAQ news agency claimed, but did not provide further detail or evidence for its claim.

The attackers "were soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the attack in response to calls to target the citizens of the coalition countries," a statement by the group said.

A "wanted" notice disseminated by Tajik authorities named two suspects aged 18 and 19 from the same village close to the Tajik-Afghan border, and a third one, 21, from the town of Nurek located not far from the site of the attack.

The US Embassy said it could not name the two US victims due to privacy concerns, but indicated that it also considered the incident to be an intentional attack.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of one Swiss national and said it was in contact with the second tourist, who has been injured.

"If it is established that this was a terrorist attack, it will be noted in future travel advice for Tajikistan," the ministry said in a statement.

Britain's Foreign Office urged UK tourists in Tajikistan, particularly those hiking or cycling in its south, "to exercise extreme caution and vigilance during their visit", citing "the first incident of this kind in Tajikistan".

The Government of Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon — who expressed condolences to the US, Swiss and Dutch authorities on Monday — fought Islamist guerrillas in a 1992-1997 civil war that claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Some Tajik Islamists then joined a coalition government, but in 2015 the state outlawed their political party, accusing its leaders of being behind a failed coup, a charge they deny.

Thousands of people from the mainly Muslim region have joined Islamic State militants in recent years.

Several men from Central Asia were detained last year over a bombing of the metro in Russia's St Petersburg, and over truck attacks in New York and Stockholm. </s> Four cycling tourists, including two Americans, were killed in what may have been a terror attack in Tajikistan, authorities told ABC News.A group of seven cyclists was heading north in Danghara district, about 55 miles southeast of the capital Dushanbe, when they were struck by a car with five armed people onboard on Sunday. Tajikistan's interior minister said that, after striking the cyclists, the people in the car got out and attacked them with a firearm and a knife.The two Americans, a woman and a man, were killed along with a Swiss man and a Dutch national. Authorities now believe it may have been a deliberate terrorist attack, although armed robbery has not been ruled out. Initial results of the Tajik investigation are expected to be available by Wednesday.The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe condemned the attack and sent condolences to the families on Monday. The embassy issued a security alert, urging safety precautions, but saying there was "no evidence that indicates a heightened level of threat to U.S. citizens."The U.S. victims were not named, due to privacy concerns, but officials indicated they considered the incident to be an intentional attack."We strongly condemn the cruelty of the attackers and recognize that they in no way represent the kindness and hospitality of the Tajik people," the embassy said in a statement If the incident is confirmed to be terrorism, it would be the first time Americans have been killed in a terrorist attack outside the U.S. since an August 2017 attack in Barcelona.Three other bikers who were Dutch and Swiss were also injured before the attackers drove away; one Swiss woman was stabbed and is no longer in critical condition. A French citizen was brought in for a check up, but sustained no injuries, a Tajik health official told ABC News.Five attackers were involved in the incident, Tajik officials said earlier Monday. Authorities said they have arrested four suspects and recovered a damaged Leganza they believe was involved in the incident, which was initially reported as a hit-and-run. One other person was resisting arrest and was "eliminated" as a suspect.The U.S. Embassy confirmed the attack with multiple sources and said that Tajikistan's ministry of internal affairs had detained one suspect and killed at least three others.Tajikistan had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" and authorities have been cautious about labeling the incident as terrorism."We are looking at versions that this was an accident, armed robbery, murder. The version of a terrorist act is also not being excluded," interior minister Ramazon Rakhimzoda told press in Dushanbe earlier today.The investigation has been put under the personal control of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.Rahmon sent telegrams expressing his condolences to President Donald Trump, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Swiss President Alain Berset, authorities said.In the letters, he was said to have told President Trump that Tajik authorities were doing everything they could to bring the perpetrators of the "vicious act" to justice.The roads through the mountains and valleys of Tajikistan and Central Asia are enticing to serious cyclists. The Pamir highway is said to be the second highest road on earth. Only the Karakoram Highway in neighboring China is higher, by a slender margin.Tajikistan is one of the poorest former Soviet republics and has struggled with poverty and instability since its independence in 1991. </s> Four cycling tourists, including two Americans, were killed in what may have been a terror attack in Tajikistan, authorities told ABC News.

A group of seven cyclists was heading north in Danghara district, about 55 miles southeast of the capital Dushanbe, when they were struck by a car with five armed people onboard on Sunday. Tajikistan’s interior minister said that, after striking the cyclists, the people in the car got out and attacked them with a firearm and a knife.

The two Americans, a woman and a man, were killed along with a Swiss man and a Dutch national. Authorities now believe it may have been a deliberate terrorist attack, although armed robbery has not been ruled out. Initial results of the Tajik investigation are expected to be available by Wednesday.

The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe condemned the attack and sent condolences to the families on Monday. The embassy issued a security alert, urging safety precautions, but saying there was "no evidence that indicates a heightened level of threat to U.S. citizens."

The U.S. victims were not named, due to privacy concerns, but officials indicated they considered the incident to be an intentional attack.

"We strongly condemn the cruelty of the attackers and recognize that they in no way represent the kindness and hospitality of the Tajik people," the embassy said in a statement.

If the incident is confirmed to be terrorism, it would be the first time Americans have been killed in a terrorist attack outside the U.S. since an August 2017 attack in Barcelona.

Three other bikers who were Dutch and Swiss were also injured before the attackers drove away; one Swiss woman was stabbed and is no longer in critical condition. A French citizen was brought in for a check up, but sustained no injuries, a Tajik health official told ABC News.

Five attackers were involved in the incident, Tajik officials said earlier Monday. Authorities said they have arrested four suspects and recovered a damaged Leganza they believe was involved in the incident, which was initially reported as a hit-and-run. One other person was resisting arrest and was "eliminated" as a suspect.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed the attack with multiple sources and said that Tajikistan's ministry of internal affairs had detained one suspect and killed at least three others.

Tajikistan had declared 2018 "a year of tourism" and authorities have been cautious about labeling the incident as terrorism.

"We are looking at versions that this was an accident, armed robbery, murder. The version of a terrorist act is also not being excluded," interior minister Ramazon Rakhimzoda told press in Dushanbe earlier today.

The investigation has been put under the personal control of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

Rahmon sent telegrams expressing his condolences to President Donald Trump, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Swiss President Alain Berset, authorities said.

In the letters, he was said to have told President Trump that Tajik authorities were doing everything they could to bring the perpetrators of the "vicious act" to justice.

The roads through the mountains and valleys of Tajikistan and Central Asia are enticing to serious cyclists. The Pamir highway is said to be the second highest road on earth. Only the Karakoram Highway in neighboring China is higher, by a slender margin.

Tajikistan is one of the poorest former Soviet republics and has struggled with poverty and instability since its independence in 1991. </s> DUSHANBE (Tajikistan), July 30 — Four tourists, including two Americans, were killed in Tajikistan by armed attackers in what was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident, the Central Asian country’s interior minister said today.

“(The suspects) had knives and firearms,” minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda said of the attack yesterday that left tourists from the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands dead and two others injured.

The victims were cycling a popular route in the impoverished ex-Soviet nation, in a group with three other tourists from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France.

“One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim’s condition is stable,” said Rahimzoda, without mentioning nationality.

Another was being treated in hospital, while the French citizen survived without injury and had been questioned by the police, he added.

According to separate police accounts published on Sunday and Monday, at least four suspects have been detained and a further five killed in showdowns with law enforcement.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP today that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man, who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

‘Can’t say if act of terror’

“We are considering all possibilities,” Rahimzoda said of the criminal investigation at the Monday press conference.

“We can’t say if it is an act of terror,” he added.

However the minister said that “state institutions are being guarded... to provide safety for citizens and tourists”.

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirmed that two of the fatalities were American citizens.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon sent notes of condolence to the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the deaths.

The incident took place in Rakhmon’s home district of Danghara, 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

One of the suspects killed by police was the 21-year-old owner of the Daewoo Leganza that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, Jafariddin Yusufov, who hails from the town of Nurek.

In June Rakhmon said that state officials found to be soliciting bribes from tourists would be fired from their positions as “traitors”.

Visitor numbers had quadrupled in the first five months of 2018 compared the same period last year, he said. Two years ago, the country introduced a simplified e-visa system for citizens of 80 countries.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics and has been ruled by the iron hand of Rakhmon, 65, since 1992. — AFP </s> DUSHANBE: En route to mountainous Tajikistan's "roof of the world" lies a hastily-erected memorial to four bike tourists killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group late last month.

Roses and tulips lie scattered at the tribute - featuring a plaque inscribed in English - in the foreground of a scrubby mountain landscape.

"We express sincere condolences on behalf of all Tajik people and Tajikistan to the families and relatives of the died tourists in our country tragically and cruelly," the plaque reads.

It was here, approximately 100 kilometres south of Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, that American tourists Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, Dutch citizen Rene Wokke and Swiss citizen Markus Hummel were fatally wounded in an attack initially reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

The attack comes as a deep blow to Tajikistan, which has been trying to promote the authoritarian country as a tourism hotspot, simplifying visa bureaucracy and even declaring 2018 "the year of tourism."

Police said the gang that attacked the group of seven tourists, injuring two others, had also stabbed their victims, while a video released via IS' official media channel indicated the attackers were inspired by the Islamist group.

"It was a tragedy," 32-year-old account manager and biking enthusiast Pau Ros told AFP ahead of a seven-day cycle over Tajikistan's legendary Pamir Highway with girlfriend Mariona Miranda.

"This happens around the world now. But we are not going to change our lives because that is what these bad people would want," said Ros, who is a native of Barcelona.

Authorities have played down video evidence that appears to show five men - four of whom they say were killed resisting arrest - swearing an oath of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

On Friday (Aug 3), Tajikistan's state prosecutor said the clip had been released "with the aim of deflecting suspicions from another terrorist organisation - the Islamic Renaissance Party", a former opposition party banned by the government in 2015.

The IRPT has refuted links to the attack, as has Iran, a country that Tajikistan has poor ties with and says provided training to a 33-year-old man called Hussein Abdusamadov, who was detained for allegedly leading the attack on the cyclists.

In a brief interview with AFP, the mother of Abdusamadov, who was shown sporting a black eye in his police photo, could not say if he had traveled to Iran but said he spoke Arabic and had worked in Russia, a migration destination for hundreds of thousands of Tajiks.

"We do not know when he came back to (Tajikistan). The police just came to our door and told us he had committed a crime," Gulchekhra Shodmonova told AFP.

Analysts have pointed to a number of reasons to doubt the official narrative linking IRPT and Iran to the attack -- chiefly a downturn in Tajikistan's relations with Iran, an intensified crackdown on the opposition since 2015 and the IS video evidence.

Mahmudjon Faizrahmon, a spokesman-in-exile for the party that has always described itself as peaceful opposition force said on Thursday that police brought his 62-year-old mother for questioning after he denied links between the party and the attack on Twitter.

In addition to Abdusamadov, Tajikistan's prosecutor says 10 people have been detained under suspicion of financing the crime and failing to supply information to police before the attack took place.

At the US embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, a simple bicycle donated by a local student provides a fitting flourish to a display honouring 29-year-old Geoghegan and Austin, whose blog Simplycycling.org was popular among other bike-the-world cyclists.

The pair whose photo stood on a table at the heart of the display described themselves as enthusiasts who fell in love with cycling in adulthood but were not above "hitching a ride when a stretch of road is dangerous or just awful."

It is uncertain how the attack from which only one tourist, a Frenchman, emerged unscathed, will affect one of the few sources of economic optimism in the poorest country to gain independence from the Soviet Union.

Tajikistan announced plans to create a "tourist police" earlier this week, but provided few details.

One representative of a Bed and Breakfast in Dushanbe told AFP that a Polish tourist who had planned on cycling the highway had flown home.
ISIL claims responsibility for an attack in Tajikistan that occurred two days prior and left four cycling tourists dead.