* Sentences from three to 15 years
* Crackdown has jailed over 100 people in 2010
By Roman Kozhevnikov
DUSHANBE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Tajikistan jailed 10 followers of a banned Islamic group on Wednesday on charges of inciting anti-government activities, reinforcing a crackdown on religious radicalism that has imprisoned more than 100 people this year.
Governments in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia are clamping down on what they see as growing radicalism in the predominantly Muslim, though secular, region after a rise in clashes between security forces and armed gangs.
Tajikistan, which shares a porous, 1,340-km (840-mile) border with Afghanistan, has jailed 115 people this year alone on charges of belonging to banned groups, the Supreme Court's press service said.
The latest case occurred in Khujand, the largest city in the north of Tajikistan, where the accused were jailed from three to 15 years. All of those sentenced, including a 70-year-old man, belonged to the Hizb ut-Tahrir group, the Supreme Court said.
It said in a statement the accused had called forcibly to change the constitution, a charge that is often levelled against members of banned groups.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, argues it uses only peaceful methods to achieve its goal of establishing a worldwide caliphate -- a theocratic Muslim state.
Human rights groups have accused Central Asian governments of using the Islamist threat as an excuse to crack down on political dissent in a region where, as in Soviet times, alternative views are often branded as extremist.
However, security analysts say radical groups are gaining strength in the region, emboldened by people's growing frustration with economic hardship.
Tajikistan has jailed 36 Hizb ut-Tahrir members this year, as well as 25 members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and more than 50 people affiliated to other outlawed groups. (Writing by Robin Paxton)
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