DUSHANBE - Three suspected Islamist militants were seized by Tajik police Wednesday, police officials told AFP.

Three young men were stopped at a checkpoint in eastern Tajikistan and when questioned, "admitted that they took part in the Taliban's warfare against the anti-terrorist coalition in Afghanistan and against Pakistani troops," a police spokesman said.

Police raided the apartment where the three suspects stayed the previous night and found guns, grenades, communication equipment and handcrafted bombs, the spokesman said.

He said the three suspects were proved to be militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an extremist group founded in 1998 to overthrow the government of Tajikistan's neighbor Uzbekistan, which later joined Tajikistan's armed opposition as well as Taliban.

Tensions have been running high in eastern Tajikistan in recent months, as the government has been battling suspected Islamist fighters near the border with Afghanistan.

--AFP