Uzbek group showcases fighting Kurds in Aleppo
The Uzbek Imam Bukhari Jamaat joins several other jihadist groups and rebel factions in the battle for the Aleppo neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsud.
The Uzbek Imam Bukhari Jamaat joins several other jihadist groups and rebel factions in the battle for the Aleppo neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsud.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE) has lost its third emir in just over a year and half. Magomed Suleimanov, also known as Abu Usman Gimrinsky, was publicly announced as the group’s leader on July 1. Just over a month later, Russian counterterrorism forces killed him.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE) publicly recognized Muhammad Abu Usman as its new emir earlier this month. The ICE, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, has suffered a string of defections to the Islamic State since last year.
The State Department has added Aliaskhab Kebekov (also known as Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani), who heads the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, to the US government’s list of specially designated global terrorists. State notes that Kebekov has proclaimed his organization’s “structural subordination” to al Qaeda.
A newly released video features Said Arakanskiy, the leader of Vilayat Dagestan. Arakanskiy was appointed to that position late last year after his predecessor defected to the Islamic State.
Sharia officials from both Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Al Nusrah Front, two official branches of al Qaeda, have signed a statement saying that the Islamic State’s ‘caliphate’ is invalid. The statement is addressed to the Caucasus jihadists who announced their allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in December.
Rustam Asilderov, the former head of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate’s Dagestan province, swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi earlier this month. The move by Asilderov and other jihadists drew harsh criticism from their former superiors.