The renaming of the imu as the islamic movement of turkestan expresses an interest by remaining cadres of the organization in broadening its activity to the large uzbek minority in southern kazakhstan and the uighur community of western china. The islamic movement of uzbekistans role in attacks in pakistan. In transition crisis group europe and central asia briefing n82 bishkekbrussels, 29 september 2016 i. Actually, the imu group in zabul was also a splinter group, now loyal to the islamic state is militant group operating in syria and iraq, and the imu now appears to have. The islamic movement of uzbekistan imu is a group of islamic militants from uzbekistan and other central asian states. Despite its predominance and history, the practice of islam has been far from monolithic since the establishment of the uzbek. Obtaining primary source material on the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu and the. Islamic movement of uzbekistan faction emerges after group. Islamic state claims suicide attack outside afghanistans supreme court bill roggio february 8, 2017. Understanding the islamic movement of uzbekistan through social. Narcotics, radicalism, and armed conflict in central asia. May 05, 2005 in 1999, the islamic movement of uzbekistan took a group of japanese geologists hostage. Islamic movement of uzbekistan imu islamic party of turkestan.
Jan 21, 2015 a more dangerous group was the islamic movement of uzbekistan, which originated in eastern uzbekistan but sought to create an islamic caliphate in the fergana valley. Islamic movement of uzbekistan pledges allegiance to. German terrorists pass through yemen, meet awlaki, before joining imu in pakistan. In 1999, the islamic movement of uzbekistan took a group of japanese geologists hostage. Lashkaritaiba, hizballah, the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu, the. Feb 23, 2015 islamic movements in uzbekistan have a long history.
Central asian involvement in the conflict in syria and. Radical islamists in central asia hudson institute. Created as a result of events in december 1991 and becoming more prominent in 1998, the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu is an insurgency based on salafist religious doctrines, allied with the taliban and alqaeda. Coalition of islamic militants from uzbekistan and other central asian states. Islamic movement of uzbekistan russias peripheryrussias. In early august, news broke that usmon ghazi, the current leader of the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu, had pledged the central asian militant groups allegiance to islamic state. The group is associated with alqaeda, and the afghan and pakistani taliban.
Islamic movement of uzbekistan fdds long war journal. The islamic movement of uzbekistan imu is a group of militants from uzbekistan. Al qaeda in the tribal areas of pakistan and beyond taylor. He was imus mufti, joining and then leaving isil in a video called muftiy abu zar azzom davla. But expressing a pious muslim belief was not supported by the regime in uzbekistan. The islamic movement of uzbekistan imu, like the islamic renaissance party irp in tajikistan, is a homegrown fundamental islamist movement in opposition to the karimov regime in uzbekistan, an undemocratic holdover from the soviet era. Search islamic movement of uzbekistan site intelligence group. Pdf the islamic movement of uzbekistans role in attacks in. Tahir yuldash and former soviet paratrooper juma namangani, both ethnic uzbeks belonging to fergana valley, set up the dreaded group.
Islamic movements in uzbekistan have a long history. Islamic movement of uzbekistan faction emerges after groups. The attack was an apparent attempt to assassinate uzbek president islam karimov. Is penetration in afghanistanpakistan universiteit leiden. The attack was executed by a tajik fighter, who may have been a member of the islamic movement of uzbekistan faction that merged with the islamic states khorasan province. The islamic movement of uzbekistan opens a door to the. Guardian the crackdown, in turn, fuelled the growth of an insurgency by the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu. Islamic movement of uzbekistan australian national security. The imu is a militant and extremist islamic organization, one that has been listed by the us state department as a terrorist organization. The islamic human rights commission ihrc condemned what it has described as the massacre of ordinary civilians and key members of the islamic movement which started on saturday, 12 december 2015. Uyghurs, chechens, uzbeks, tajiks, kyrgyz, kazakhs and other ethnic groups flocked to serve under imu leader juma namangani, who died in november 2001. Islamic movement of uzbekistan imu the investigative. The islamic movement of uzbekistan imu has been a threat looming over central asia for 15 years, since militants burst into southern kyrgyzstan.
Islamic movement of uzbekistan imu idolat terrorist. Islamic movement of uzbekistan latest breaking news, pictures, videos, and special reports from the economic times. Islam was looked upon as one of the main sources for the forging of one2. Over the course of the last few years the imu has fractured and members of what at least once was the imu are now dispersed in.
German jihadi media group redistributes 2010 imu speech, calls on mothers to encourage sons to fight. Rwo the islamic movement of uzbekistan by kommiekat. A new faction of the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu independent of the islamic state has emerged and indicated that it remains loyal to the taliban, al qaeda, and other traditional jihadist group that operate in pakistan, afghanistan, and central asia. The group first appeared as a federation of islamic groups formed in ferghana since 1992, and was headed. Uzbekistan, islam in oxford islamic studies online.
After a pakistani operation in northern waziristan, the islamic movement of uzbekistan, which had been based there for the a number of years, shifted back. The islamic movement of uzbekistan overshadows afghan. The islamic movement of uzbekistan is a militant islamist group formed in 1991 in kandahar, afghanistan for the purpose of removing uzbek government in order to establish an islamic state. Islamic movement of uzbekistan counter extremism project. In midseptember 2014, the islamic movement of uzbekistans imu emir, usman ghazi, issued a statement announcing that the imu was now siding with the islamic state. Jihadist news islamic movement of uzbekistan islamic state iraq uzbekistan. In the early 2000s, it evolved into the islamic jihad union iju. The uzbek group was particularly active in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when it launched attacks in uzbekistan and kyrgyzstan from its base in the remote mountains of eastern. Islamic revivalism in central asia and the islamic movement. This information is based on publicly available information about the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu. For decades during soviet rule, religious clerics spread teachings of salafism and wahhabism. However, after the merger with the egyptian group al jihad in 2001,9 the. The government has responded with mass arrests, detainment, and torture of muslims unaffiliated with approved state muslim organizations. Exporting jihad islamic terrorism from central asia.
May 12, 2015 nearly a year later, thousands of fighters from the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu are now at the forefront of conflicts in at least eight provinces in neighboring afghanistan as violence escalates during the traditional spring fighting season. The islamic movement of uzbekistan imu was back in the news at the start of november, fighting alongside a taliban splinter group in afghanistans southern zabul province. Aug 24, 2011 of the islamic movement of uzbekistan and fight them until there is no more fitnah and the religion is all for allah al anfaal. Islamic movement of uzbekistan imu narrative start. Another islamic movement is the hezbollah group is alleged to be a radical islamic movement by the west include israel stationed in lebanon and enjoys political, economic and social backing from syria and iran. This paper examines the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu, one of the three key islamic groups active in central asia. Islamic movement of uzbekistan encyclopedia article. It extended its objective to establish an islamic caliphate in turkistan as well. Nevertheless, the imu has aligned it self to islamic state is and long. Jun 14, 2016 islamic movement of uzbekistan fighters in afghanistan. Islamic revivalism in central asia and the islamic. Karimov clamped down on these groups in the early to mid1990s, but the islamic movement of uzbekistan gained refuge in tajikistan, which was ravaged by civil war from 1992 to 1997.
Nov 28, 2015 the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu was back in the news at the start of november, fighting alongside a taliban splinter group in afghanistans southern zabul province. Hizb uttahrir and the islamic movement of uzbekistan received uyghur recruits from the diaspora in kyrgyzstan and uzbekistan. Pdf the islamic movement of uzbekistans role in attacks. Islamic radicalism in central asia and the caucasus the web site. The islamic movement of uzbekistan article in terrorism and political violence 174. The islamic movement of uzbekistan, which is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the u. The islamic movement of uzbekistan is a salafijihadist militant organization operating in central asia. The islamic movement of uzbekistan imu is an insurgent organisation that was founded in 1998 after an end to the civil war in tajikistan.
The islamic movement of uzbekistan was a militant islamist group formed in 1998 by the. The imu is closely affiliated with alqaida and, under the leadership of tohir yoldashev, has embraced usama bin ladins antiu. During the first period 19902000, radical islamic groups and organisations out of which the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu became the primary one were focused primarily on attempts to start an islamic revolution in the region. The group first appeared as a federation of islamic groups formed in ferghana since 1992, and was headed politically by tashir yuldashev and. The jihadists, like their leading military commander, juma namangani, did not have a clear ideological approach. Islamic state ally emerges as threat to afghanistan. Jihadist news islamic movement of uzbekistan islamic state iraq uzbekistan monday, 06 november 2017 german jihadi media group redistributes 2010 imu speech, calls on mothers to encourage sons to fight. The uzbek government accuses the imu as well as other islamist and nationalist groups of detonating five or six car bombs in tashkent, uzbekistan, killing 15 or 16 and wounding more than 100. The call to jihad by the islamic movement of uzbekistan. Takhir yuldashev is believed to be its organizer and ideologist. Rwo the islamic movement of uzbekistan campaigns armaholic. Martyrdom operation in the province of panjshir in the year 1434 h posted on october 25, 20 by aaron y.
Adolat focused on implementing islamic law within uzbekistan. Khurasan, islamic state, alqaeda, taliban, afghanistan, pakistan. May 31, 2014 the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu has been a threat looming over central asia for 15 years, since militants burst into southern kyrgyzstan. However, in 1992, president islam karimov outlawed adolat, forcing yuldashev and namangani to flee to. Jihadist news islamic movement of uzbekistan germany. The islamic movement of uzbekistan and islamic jihad union have acquired high combat versatility. Exgunmen of the islamic movement of uzbekistan claim that. A more dangerous group was the islamic movement of uzbekistan, which originated in eastern uzbekistan but sought to create an islamic caliphate in the fergana valley.
Imu, islamic movement of turkestan, islamic party of turkestan listed 11 april 2003, relisted 11 april 2005, 31 march 2007, 14 march 2009, 9 march 2012, 3 march 2015 and 3 march 2018. Islamic movement of uzbekistan fighters in afghanistan. As operations against taliban forces in afghanistan and pakistan have continued, military clashes with islamist nonstate armed groups have been recorded in mid2009 in uzbekistan, tajikistan, and kyrgyzstan. It encouraged youth to find a sense of direction in their lives by joining the. The islamic movement of uzbekistan during the erstwhile soviet era, islam in central asia was officially suppressed and all contact with the wider muslim world was severed. Uzbekistan is home to the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu while kazakhstan has. In 1991, tahir yuldashev and juma namangani founded the organization adolat which means justice in namangan in uzbekistan s ferghana valley. Nearly a year later, thousands of fighters from the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu are now at the forefront of conflicts in at least eight provinces in neighboring afghanistan as violence escalates during the traditional spring fighting season. It has been linked to terrorist activity and to the attempted overthrow of uzbek president. Islamic movement of uzbekistan pajhwok afghan news. Author ahmed rashid has followed the imu since its emergence in the 1990s.
Islamic movement of uzbekistan blogs, comments and archive news on. The islamic movement of uzbekistan overshadows afghan battlefield. The imu is closely affiliated with alqaida and, under the leadership of tohir yoldashev, has embraced usama bin ladins antius, antiwestern agenda. The movement s goal is the takeover of xinjiang and central asia. Islamic customs were broadly adopted by the ruling elite, and they began patronage of scholars and conquerors such as muhammad albukhari, altirmidhi, ismail samani, albiruni, avicenna, tamerlane, ulugh begh, and babur. Yuldashev speaks several languages russian, english, farsi, arab, urdu. The islamic movement of uzbekistan was established in 1996. Nov 20, 2012 the islamic movement of uzbekistan imu, a militant group based in pakistans tribal agencies, has suffered a series of major battlefield setbacks over the past year. Islamic movement of uzbekistan and its splinter islamic jihad. As a result of the universalisation of islamic terrorism, these organisations. Since independence 1991, unresolved social and economic problems and severe political and religious oppression have fueled radical elements such as the islamic movement of uzbekistan.
Islamic movement of uzbekistan jund allah studio presents a new video message from the islamic movement of uzbekistan. Overview islam karimovs death creates uncertainty, fi rst for uzbekistan but also for neighbours and major powers, all with strong interest in the strategic states stability. This isolation ended with the soviet war in afghanistan, when thousands of conscripts from soviet central asia were sent to fight the afghan mujahedin. Other groups, such as akromiya, would later adopt the islamic movement of uzbekistans use of violence while espousing hizb altahrirs ideology. Their area of operations is not limited to uzbekistan, but centers on the ferghana valley, where the uzbek, kyrgyz, and tajik borders come together. Islamic movement of uzbekistan russias peripheryrussia. Latest and breaking news on islamic movement of uzbekistan. Following the end of the civil war in tajikistan, and imus failed attempts to provoke an islamic. The movements goal is the takeover of xinjiang and central asia. The imu never claims responsibility for the attack.
Islamic movement of uzbekistan cisac stanford university. Central asian involvement in the conflict in syria and iraq. Many of the first islamist movements to arise in central asia after 1991 can be traced to the competition that emerged in uzbekistan between, on the one hand, the secular government of islam karimov and progovernment clerics and, on the other, an opposing movement of mujadidiya reformist islamic scholars. Uzbekistan is bordered by five other countries photograph. In afghanistan, the central asian militant group islamic movement of uzbekistan. East turkestan islamic movement etim, uighur jihadists have now spread to southeast asia. Taliban movement or islamic emirate of afghanistan, iea led by mullah omar. Drivers and responses iii marginalization or ghettoization breaks important community bonds for the migrants and removes them from positive mitigating factors family, community, religious leaders that all work to prevent militant. Imu is known as a disciplined organization with diehard and experienced cadre. Islamic movement of uzbekistan imu is one of the few foreign militant groups operating in the afghanistanpakistan region. Together, they officially renamed adolat to the islamic movement of uzbekistan. He is a glib speaker, capable of finding an appropriate quote from.