International Crisis Group

Shadow Boxing With the Islamic State in Central Asia | Reid Standish

When it comes to the Islamic State’s potential threat to Central Asia, no one quite seems to be able to tell the difference between reality and speculation.

On Monday, Uzbekistan’s domestic intelligence agency announced that it had intercepted communications indicating that the militants were planning to carry out terrorist attacks in the country in the spring. The same day, Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry said it had uncovered 83 cases of recruiters trying to bring fighters to Syria.

Fighters returning from Syria has not carried out any attacks in Central Asia and apart from such statements from state security organs, there is little reliable information to be had on the inroads the Islamic State has made in the region. The question of how many Central Asian citizens have joined up with the Islamic State or have professed jihadist sympathies has now become a volatile political issue. Hyping the threat could provide justification for the region’s strongmen to further consolidate power. At the same time, terror experts agree that Central Asia has become a recruitment hub for the militant group.

FULL ARTICLE (via Foreign Policy)

Photo: “Almaty Mosque” by Roy Berman is licensed under CC BY ND 2.0 

Thousands from Central Asia joining ‘Islamic State' |Gabriel Domínguez

At least 2,000 Central Asians are believed to have joined “Islamic State,” a new report found. Marked by poverty and radicalization, the region has become a growing source of foreign fighters, as Crisis Group’s Project Director for Central Asia, Deirdre Tynan, tells DW.

The fallout from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq has become a major security concern for Central Asian governments. Crippled by corruption, the five former Soviet Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are seen as having done little to address the issue of radical Islam.

In a recently released report, the International Crisis Group (ICG) says that “Islamic State” (IS) is attracting Central Asians to Syria and fostering new links among radicals within the region. Between 2,000 and 4,000 of their citizens have left for IS-held territory to fight or otherwise support the Islamic State cause, the report notes.

FULL INTERVIEW (Deutsche Welle)

Photo: Neil Banas/flickr

From Central Asia to Syria: A Teenage Girl’s Jihad | Crisis Group

As part of research for a report on Central Asian jihadis, to be published in mid-January, Crisis Group has interviewed numerous fighters and their families. In the excerpts below, printed with the permission of the family, the father, Ramaz, tells about his two daughters, one of whom suddenly left home to join the jihad in Syria (and get married there), the other of whom has disappeared and might have joined her sister.

Tell me, please, what is your name?

My name is Ramaz.

How old are you?

43.

Are you working at the moment?

Yes,  I work at a factory.

Did you go to Turkey to look for your daughter?

Yes. On 12 February [2014] my daughter ran away from home. She got a ticket to Turkey. Later that night, at 8 p.m., I called her. She said she was going to her grandmother’s and would stay there. But the next day we found out she went to the airport and flew to Istanbul. I immediately called the National Security Service (SNS) and the State Committee for National Security (SCNS). After I called them, they started working.

Working to find her?

Yes. We explained everything to them…. About two months before she left, she had started praying and reading the Koran at home. I have two daughters. The first is sixteen years old and the second just turned eighteen. They started to apply for documents, travel passports and state ID cards. I asked them why they would need travel passports; they were preparing to go for two months.

Only later did we find out that the eldest was communicating with a guy from Moscow. Her friend told us this. They were communicating by phone, through SMS, and Odnoklassniki (a Russia-based online social network). During those two months she started praying five times a day. She was never out overnight, she always stayed at home. She worked in the beauty salon nearby. She worked there for more than 6 months. She was earning money, she was a good girl. And then one day she announced she didn’t want to work at the salon anymore because she didn’t want to cut men’s hair.

Next thing, she flew quietly to Turkey, and two or three days later contacted us via Skype. As we were talking, our daughter was always looking to the side, back and forth, and it seemed like somebody was standing by her. She said she had arrived in Turkey without problems and that she wanted to study at a madrassa (religious school) in Turkey. Her argument was that she’d get a good education and she asked us for our permission to do this. I rejected her arguments and said the aim of this type of education is to prepare her for jihad. I told her it would ruin  her and that it was unnecessary. I did not agree to it. She just said “okay” and left.

FULL INTERVIEW (Crisis Group Blog - In Pursuit of Peace)

Photo: Screenshot from a video of alleged Uzbek jihadi training camp in Syria, June 2014.