Thursday, April 18, 2024
In Tajikistan, a land of mountains high,
A mother weeps, questions fill her eye,
Her son, accused of ISIS's dangerous lie,
From dirt roads to terrorism, oh my.
From Tajik prisons, he emerged anew,
Bruised and battered, in a Russian courtroom's view,
Tajik recruits, ISIS-K's deadly crew,
Innocence lost, extremism grew.
Who lures the young from this peaceful land?
Into the grasp of terror's dreadful hand,
Tajikistan's name tarnished, it cannot withstand,
ISIS-K's recruits, an evil brand.
In courts, in concert halls, the fear does loom,
Tajiks in the midst of terror's gloom,
What drives these youths towards such doom,
ISIS's shadow, a nation's costume.
![Read the story](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/04/15/multimedia/15tajikistan-terror-01-gbwc/15tajikistan-terror-01-gbwc-facebookJumbo.jpg)