On September 7, 1992 President Rahmon Nabiyev of Tajikistan was seized by opposition forces at Dushanbe airport and forced at gunpoint to resign, as the country's civil war deepened. Nabiyev's authority had been crumbling since the outbreak of fighting in May 1992 and the imposition of a coalition government he could not control. On September 7, 1992, as Nabiyev and his entourage tried to reach Dushanbe airport, they were ambushed by opposition forces; at the terminal he was compelled at gunpoint to sign his resignation.
After talks in the airport's VIP lounge he was released and returned to his home region of Leninabad, leaving politics. The speaker of parliament, Akbarsho Iskandarov, became acting president. Nabiyev was not physically harmed in the incident.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Rahmon Nabiyev, forced to resign at gunpoint at Dushanbe airport on September 7, 1992; he was released unharmed and left politics.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Rahmon Nabiyev (president forced to resign)
Akbarsho Iskandarov (speaker who became acting president)
Sources
On 7 September 1992 Nabiyev was captured by opposition protesters and forced at gunpoint to resign his presidency, and chaos and fighting between the opposing factions reigned outside of the capital Dushanbe.
On 7 September 1992 Nabiyev and an entourage of his were on their way to Dushanbe airport when they were ambushed by opposition forces, at the terminal Nabiyev was forced to resign at gunpoint, and after a meeting and discussions with the armed opposition in the airport's VIP lounge Nabiyev was released.
In the incident demonstrators seized Nabiyev and forced him at gunpoint to resign, and the speaker of the Supreme Soviet Akbarsho Iskandarov, a Pamiri closely associated with Nabiyev, became acting president, though he had little influence over either side.
Rejected by both the opposition and the increasingly powerful Kulobi and Hisor-based forces, in early September Nabiyev resigned and returned home to Leninobod, exiting politics permanently.
SOURCE REVIEWEDFacts and Details / Nourzhanov and Bleuer, Heart of the Tajik Civil War in 1992open source ↗
Editorial Note
Fate coding: the deposed president Rahmon Nabiyev was forced at gunpoint to resign at Dushanbe airport on September 7, 1992, then released, and he returned to his home region and left politics; he was not physically harmed in the incident, matching the dataset. Coding note: the dataset labels this a rebel coup, accurately, an armed opposition ambush that compelled the president's resignation during the civil war. Arc link: this is the second of three linked Tajikistan 1992 records in this batch, following the May 1992 outbreak of the civil war and forced coalition, and preceding the November 1992 Khujand session that installed Emomali Rahmon. Aftermath recorded: the speaker Akbarsho Iskandarov became acting president but had little control over either side, and the war continued. A note on sources: some accounts date the airport incident to August 1992, but the most consistent and detailed sources place it on September 7, 1992, matching the dataset date. Later note: Nabiyev died in April 1993 under disputed circumstances (officially a heart attack), a separate later matter. Mass-violence context of the wider civil war handled neutrally and cited elsewhere in the Tajikistan records. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Rahmon Nabiyev, forced to resign at gunpoint at Dushanbe airport on September 7, 1992; he was released unharmed and left politics..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“After week of turmoil, Tajik President is Forced Out,” by Steven Erlanger, September 8, 1992
“Old-Liners Gain in Tajikistan,” December 12, 1992
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →