Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
US drone strike kills senior Uzbek commander in Pakistan
US drone strike kills senior Uzbek commander in Pakistan
“There is no need for such strikes,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, condemning the attack “as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
In 2011, ISAF captured Qari Bilal, who was serving as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan’s top leader in Afghanistan. He was subsequently released by the Afghan government, and is now commanding more than 300 jihadist fighters in Kunduz.
The spokesman for Omar Khalid Khorasani, the leader of the Taliban in Mohmand, said the Quetta airbase attacks were executed with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other jihadist groups all operate in the province.
The strike is the second in the village of Darga Mandi in the past week, and just the third in Pakistan this year.
The military appears to be focused the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan as well as foreign fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Turkistan Islamic Party.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb appears to be aimed at the “bad Taliban” and foreign terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. It is unlikely the Haqqani Network or the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group will be targeted.
Four Uzbeks, two members of the Punjabi Taliban, and 10 “miitants” are said to have been killed in the pair of strikes.
Both the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan have claimed the attack on Jinnah International Airport.
The movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said the assault on the airport was launched to avenge the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud, its former emir.
The Imam Bukhari Jamaat, which fights alongside the Al Nusrah Front and Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, touted its training camp, which is thought to be located near Aleppo.
Abu Hussein, the emir of the Seyfuddin Uzbek Jamaat, is thought to have “scores of fighters from Uzbekistan and neighboring countries in Central Asia,” a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal.
“There are already ‘no go’ zones under Taliban control in Faryab and Jawzjan provinces,” according to a report.
The Treasury Department confirmed today that the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network, known as Yasin al Suri, is operational once again. Treasury also designated an additional “associate” of al Suri’s.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that 33 Uzbeks and three Germans are among those killed in Pakistani airstrikes in North Waziristan.
Tracking Central Asians’ Trails To Jihad In Syria
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan’s condolences for the death of the commander of the Al Tawhid Brigade speaks volumes as to how the Syrian Islamist group is perceived by global jihadists.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan remains active against Coalition forces in northern Afghanistan.
The Taliban ambushed Afghan forces just after the military ended what it claimed was a successful operation to clear the Wardoj district in Badakhshan. More that 20 Afghan policemen are reported to have been killed and an additional 24 are missing.
The Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are the likely culprits; the groups are integrated in the north and have conducted similar attacks in the past.
At least 30 “hardcore militants” have been freed in a complex suicide assault on a prison in Dera Ismail Khan. The attack was likely carried out by the Taliban and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan’s newly-formed Ansar al Aseer.
A video has emerged showing the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group training five burka-clad women on pistols, assault and sniper rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers.
As the US and its NATO allies continue to draw down forces in Afghanistan and seek to negotiate a peace agreement with the Taliban, al Qaeda continues to highlight its operations in Afghanistan.
A female suicide bomber killed female college students on a bus, then a suicide assault team struck a hospital where the wounded were taken.
The operation took place in Sar-i-Pul province. ISAF has launched 29 raids against the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan so far this year.
The suicide bomber targeted a US and Afghan Local Police patrol as it passed by a high school in Paktia province. The US has stepped up raids against the Haqqani Network in Paktia.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan claimed the attack under the banner of the Taliban’s spring offensive and said that it “is continuing its jihadi activities in the Khorasan region.”
While the attack had little military significance, the Taliban have demonstrated that they are able to strike in one of the most secured and peaceful areas of Afghanistan.
The head of the provincial council in Baghlan province and 13 others were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber who was dressed as a policeman.