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Four cyclists, including two Americans, were killed in what may have been a terrorist attack in Tajikistan, officials told ABC News.
A group of seven cyclists was heading north in the Danghara district, about 55 miles southeast of the capital Dushanbe, when they were hit by a car with five armed people on board Sunday. The interior minister of Tajikistan said that after hitting the cyclists, the people of the car went out and attacked them with a gun and a knife.
The two Americans, a woman and a man, were killed with a Swiss and a Dutch national. Authorities now believe that this may have been a deliberate terrorist attack, although armed robbery has not been ruled out. The first results of the Tajik inquiry are expected to be available on Wednesday.
The US Embassy in Dushanbe condemned the attack and sent his condolences to the families on Monday. The embassy issued a security alert, urging to take security precautions, but saying that there was "no evidence that indicates an increased level of threat to US citizens."
US victims were not named for confidentiality reasons, but authorities said they considered the incident as 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," said the Embassy in a statement.
Getty Images If it is confirmed that the incident is terrorism, it would be the first time that Americans have been killed in a terrorist attack outside the United States since an attack of August 2017 in Barcelona.
Three other Dutch and Swiss bikers were also injured before the attackers left. a Swiss woman was stabbed and no longer in critical condition. A French citizen was brought in for a check but was not injured, a Tajik health official told ABC News.
Taylor Weidman / Bloomberg via Getty Images [19659009] After a banner depicting an image of Tajikistan, President Emomali Rahmon exhibited on a building in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on April 22, 2018.
Five attackers were involved in the incident, officials said Tajiks Monday. Authorities said they arrested four suspects and recovered a damaged Leganza, which they said was involved in the incident, which was initially reported as a hit-and-run. Another person resisted the arrest and was "eliminated" as a suspect.
The US Embassy confirmed the attack with multiple sources and said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan had arrested a suspect and killed at least three other people.
Tajikistan declared 2018 "a year of tourism" and the authorities were cautious before describing the incident as terrorism.
"We examine the versions according to which there was an accident, an armed robbery or a murder, but the version of a terrorist act "is not excluded," said Ramazon Rakhimzoda, Interior Minister in Dushanbe.
The investigation was placed under the personal control of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
STOCK IMAGES / Getty Images Rahmon sent telegrams expressing his condolences to President Donald Trump, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Swiss President Alain Berset, according to the authorities.
In these letters, he reportedly told President Trump that the Tajik authorities were doing everything in their power to bring the perpetrators of this "heinous act" to justice.
The roads through the mountains and valleys of Tajikistan and Central Asia attract serious cyclists. The Pamir Highway is considered the second highest road on the planet. Only the Karakoram road in neighboring China is higher, with a thin margin.
Tajikistan is one of the oldest and poorest Soviet republics and has struggled with poverty and instability since its independence in 1991.
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