Tag Archives: Islamic extremism

Tajiks join IS

NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Egypt have charged four Tajik men with recruiting for the extremist group Islamic State (IS), the US-fund Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported quoting officials at the Tajik embassy in Cairo. Central Asian states are increasingly worried about young disenfranchised men joining IS.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Turkmen army to be strengthened

NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan is looking to bolster its military, media reported quoting Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov from a transcript of a meeting at the National Security Council. Mr Berdymukhamedov is concerned about Taliban activity on its border with Afghanistan. Turkmen forces have built strengthen defences in some border areas this year.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Turkmenistan ponders security

OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan may officially be neutral but it is still discussing regional security issues with NATO.

NATO’s liaison officer for Central Asia Alexander Vinnikov met with Turkmen officials to discuss various bilateral security options, media reported. This was the second major security meeting held by Turkmenistan in October. Earlier in the month President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov to discuss cooperation.

The main worry for Turkmenistan is the growing Taliban threat along its border with Afghanistan. The Taliban has increased their activities, triggering the Turkmen military to bolster its defences.

It’s also concerned about a re-galvanised Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The IMU emerged in the 1990s and had targeted Uzbekistan. In the 2000s it joined the Taliban fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan and this year claimed responsibility for an attack on Karachi airport. More recently, the IMU has publicly declared its support for the so-called Islamic State extremist group which is fighting in Syria and Iraq.

If the IMU did become a major threat to Central Asian states once again, Turkmenistan, with all its gas riches and long border with Afghanistan, could well be in its sights.

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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Hundreds of Kyrgyzstanis join IS

NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Acknowledging that hundreds of Kyrgyz citizens have been fighting in Syria for the Islamic State, an extremist Islamic group, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev told Kyrgyzstan’s Security Council he was determined to defeat extremism. He said Kyrgyzstan was at risk of “Arabisation”.

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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Tajikistan worries about IS

OCT. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s government is increasingly worried about the number of young Tajiks fighting in the Syria for the extremist group Islamic State (IS). Media quoted officials as saying that 50 Tajik nationals had now been killed in Syria, up from five in June.

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(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Uzbekistan discusses Taliban with Turkmenistan

OCT. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Relations between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have often been strained but the challenges of dealing with a potential security void once NATO withdraws from Afghanistan is pushing the two neighbours to work together.

Uzbek president Islam Karimov made a rare visit to Ashgabat specifically to discuss how to deal with the Taliban who are hovering around the borders of Central Asia.

Reports earlier this year have said Turkmen forces have crossed the border with Afghanistan to set up more robust check points and defences. Uzbekistan also borders Afghanistan and Mr Karimov will, no doubt, have been keen to hear about the Turkmen experiences.

Uzbekistan also has to deal with a determined Islamic insurgency of its own with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). It is worried that a resurgent Taliban will inspire the IMU.

With both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan outside the Russia-led Collective Security Organisation, both countries appear eager to pool intelligence and experiences for what analysts have said will be a difficult few months, perhaps years, ahead once NATO completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Turkmenistan strengthens border

OCT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – It appears from news reports that Turkmenistan is continuing to bolster its defences against possible Taliban attacks. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that its correspondent in northern Afghanistan had reported construction work along the border.

“A source for Azatlyk (RFE/RL’s local service) in northern Afghanistan said Turkmenistan has increased its troop strength in several places along the border with Afghanistan recently and in the area where three of Turkmenistan’s border guards were killed in February the border guards have been replaced by spetsnazi, elite commandos,” RFE/RL reported.

“The source added that some areas now have fences, three rows deep, blocking access from the Afghan side.”

Central Asian countries have previously voiced concern that the Taliban would spread northwards after NATO had withdrawn.

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(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Afghanistan’s new president looks to Central Asia

BISHKEK/Kyrgyzstan, OCT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s new president is on a mission to transform his war-torn country with a shredded economy into a regional force. If he is successful, Central Asia may find in its southern neighbour a strong trading partner and occasional rival rather than the Taliban-tainted bogeyman regional governments have traditionally portrayed it as.

Central Asia’s security-first approach to Afghanistan is understandable. Both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have had to deal with Islamic extremists linked to the Taliban and other Afghan militants. Neutral Turkmenistan is also taking a newly assertive stance towards events in Afghanistan. Turkmen forces were reported as entering Afghan territory to beat back Taliban that had settled on the two countries’ border (Sept 17).

But Central Asia’s economic ties to Afghanistan are expanding. The long-stalled Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Tajikistan rail link, which will eventually connect the country to China, looks increasingly likely to happen, while Turkmen gas may one day transit Afghanistan on its way to China.

Mr Ghani is keen to see Afghanistan as a player. His stated ambition to turn the country into an exporter of electricity may make Kabul a rival to both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The revival of Afghan agriculture may put pressure on scarce regional energy resources.

It is perhaps noteworthy that upon receiving notes of congratulations from all five Central Asian presidents following his inauguration, Mr Ghani’s warmest words were for Kazakhstan and Nursultan Nazarbayev (Sept.29). “Kazakhstan is an important friend and positive example,” he told Kazakh foreign minister Erlan Idrissov at his inauguration.

If Mr Ghani can take Afghanistan on a similar journey, then the country will be ready to both compete and cooperate with Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Tajik court sentences Taliban

SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Dushanbe sentenced on Sept. 26 two ethnic Uzbeks to nine years in jail for fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.Tajikistan’s government has said it is increasingly worried about the spread north of Taliban fighters.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)

Georgia denies anti-IS camp planned

SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government denied media reports that it had offered to host a training camp for Syrian rebels fighting both Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and the extremist group Islamic State. Georgia has been keen to prove its credentials as an ally of the United States in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)