Sherif Omar: The Increasing Danger of Terrorism Comes From Central Asia

                                  The Increasing Danger of Terrorism Comes From Central Asia 

The increasing danger of terrorism comes from Central Asia , will effect Europe sooner or later due to the secured passage through Turkey towards Europe. In my  article I will talk about that issue , Taking  Uzbekistan as an example then in my next articles I will talk about other central Asian countries ,

Central Asian and Caucasus regions has great attention due to the increased as of oil discoveries on the one hand and the growing activity of  Islamic groups in these regions.

The former Soviet Union consisted of 15 republics, 6 of which were predominantly Muslim republics: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

In the Era following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of these republics, the governments of these republics became increasingly concerned about political Islam, especially with the religious awakening that began with the policy of openness under Soviet President Gorbachev. These concerns have escalated with the civil war in Tajikistan between the government and the opposition coalition led by the Islamic Renaissance Party.

1996, China initiated an initiative formed by the so-called “Five Shanghai“, which includes China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In 2001, Uzbekistan joined the Organization for the Enhancement of Confidence and Security in the border areas between these countries, becoming the Organization of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Uzbekistan

Despite of Uzbekistan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, there were  hopes for a religious freedom in a safe atmosphere soon faded.

President Islam Karimov has been hunting down opponents of Islamic rule amid continuing campaigns in the border  of Verjana province  for the fear of establishing a Wahhabi regime there.

In 1998, a law was enacted to give the Uzbek government absolute powers to crush any illegal religious activity. Which led to the emergence of Islamic groups in Uzbekistan, especially in Central Asia general into tension areas.

1. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

This movement was established in 1996 and started in 1999 in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to grow and grow gradually in Central Asia in general.

Its activities are markedly concentrated in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and a number of Central Asian countries, and receives support from Islamic movements in South and Central Asia.

The movement is responsible for several bombings against Uzbek interests in the capital Tashkent in February 1999. In August of the same year, the movement kidnapped four geologists and eight Kyrgyz soldiers hostage and kidnapped four US mountain climbers in August 2000.

In 1999, the movement was accused of trying to assassinate Uzbek President Islam Karimov. After September 2001  the movement was placed on the list of terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda, they focus  later on the attacks against the coalition forces inside Afghanistan alongside the Taliban and al-Qaeda

They were remained in relative quiet for several years  , till 2010 they began to restart  its activity again, but this time concentrated  in northern Afghanistan and the Pakistan-Iran border.

Media reports indicates that the movement’s activity has expanded to the Arabian Peninsula where the sources said there were dead from the movement in Syria.  In October 2014, RIA Novosti News agency  reported that the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan  “{Osman Ghazi } had announced that his movement had joined  the Islamic state  { ISIS } and its fighters will  combat  in operations. Indeed,   In September 2014 media reported that 17 Uzbeks were killed in Syria .

The National Security Service of Uzbekistan said in March that 5,000 members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are currently fighting alongside with ISIS , half of them from Uzbekistan.

2 – Ikramiya Organization

Formed in 1996  Andijan city by Akram Yuldashov, a former member of Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami. { freedom Islamic party } The reason for that  came through the writings of Yuldashov, who stated that the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic is in line with the reality of the Arab countries, but it does not fit the nature of the conditions in the Central Asian region.

There has been wide spread violence in the city of Andijan as Uzbek security forces forcibly responded to popular protests as a result of the trial of 23 organization’s members . The protests killed 1,200 people, independent sources said, while the government said it had killed 176 terrorists.

Uzbekistan is a place  of Arab-funded educational institutions on the list of banned organizations such as { Waqf, Al-Haramain, , Asian Muslims committee , Qatar Charity}

Terrorism are moving from one place to other so fast , yes for time being it looks like terrorism are quite and controlled but in my opinion I think it is just a hold from terrorist groups till they re-positioned themselves well in new areas like Africa , south Asia and Central Asia  .

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