A suspected car bomb in front of Tajikistan\'s Emergency Situations Ministry on 31 January killed at least one person and injured four others. The cause of the explosion remains unclear, but the Military Prosecutor\'s Office said the blast appears to have been a terrorist act. The explosion, which was powerful enough to damage nearby buildings, killed the presumed suicide car bomber – a 40-year-old Dushanbe resident. No further information on the individual\'s identity was available. Tajik security forces have opened a criminal case under Article 179 of the Criminal Code, which covers acts of terrorism. Sayfullo Safarov, deputy head of the Strategic Research Center of Tajikistan, told Avesta the blast could be an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country in the run-up to the 27 February parliamentary elections. In an apparently unrelated incident the same day, a fire broke out in the building that houses the State Security Ministry. A ministry spokesman told Avesta that the fire was started as a result of a short circuit and was brought under control with no casualties. (Avesta)