DUSHANBE, September 30, 2014, Asia-Plus -- A court in Dushanbe has sentenced two ethnic Uzbeks from Tajikistan''s southern Khatlon province to nine years in jail for fighting in Afghanistan as Taliban members, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports.

A judge of a court in Dushanbe''s Ismoili Somoni district, Safar Nouralizoda, told RFE/RL on September 29 that Umarali Toshpulotov, 29, and Komiljon Kulboshev, 30, had been found guilty in participation in the activities of extremist and terrorist groups and sentenced on September 26.

The two were arrested by Afghan security forces during clashes between Afghan law enforcement with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s Konduz province in June.  

They were later handed over to Tajik authorities.

Investigators say, the two men, were recruited by Taliban and went through special military trainings at Taliban camps in Pakistan.