Tajik authorities announced today that they have activated “all forces of order” to investigate an unusual series of murders in the town of Kinobodom, where more than 20 people, including several children, have died since the spring.

After six months of “silence” by the unknown killers, in December 3 families were murdered in the city of 50,000 inhabitants.

“Several cases of violent murders have been reported in Kinobodom in recent days, causing concern among the population,” the press service of the leader of the Sughd (north) district said yesterday, Tuesday.

According to the same source, “all forces of order have been mobilized”.

The authorities also suggested that “surveillance cameras and street lighting be installed” and assured that the country’s president, Imomali Rahmon, is working “night and day” for the safety of Tajiks.

In total, 23 people from seven different families were murdered between late March and mid-December in Kinobodom, according to a count by the few non-state local media covering the events, in a country where the press is tightly controlled.

No public information is available on the investigation, as is the case in the vast majority of criminal cases in Tajikistan.

An Interior Ministry official narrowed down the scope of the case in the summer and announced that two people had been sentenced to prison without parole, but that did not end the gruesome series of murders.