Tojiddin Nazarov from the village of Uzbeklangar, not far from the Tajik southern city of Nurek, who adopted an Arabic nom de guerre, Abu Osama Noraki, is viewed as a dangerous militant for his ability to draw Tajiks to the Islamic State (IS) cause through social media according to Eurasianet.org.
The last time Tojiddin Nazarov was reportedly seen around Nurek in 2014. His current whereabouts are unknown.
His father, Mahmadrahim Nazarov told Eurasianet that Noraki was teased mercilessly when he was at school because of his small, weak stature and his missing teeth. He reportedly stooped going to school from the ninth grade.
The last that was heard from Noraki was on August 6.
A few days earlier, a gang of men had used a car to mow down a group of foreign cyclists on a road in Danghara district, killing four of them in the process. In the days after the killing, a self-filmed video of the suspected perpetrators appeared online. In the footage, which was made prior to the attack, the men declared their fealty to the Islamic State terror group.
Eurasianet says that in an audio message distributed through the Zello mobile app, Noraki crowed about what he described as a successful mission.
“The killing of the foreign visitors in Tajikistan opened the doors of jihad in this country. This is a time in which young people will be awakened from their state of ignorance, their fear will be transformed into bravery,” he said.
Noraki reportedly came to public notice in April 2017, following an incident in Stockholm in which a national of Uzbekistan, Rakhmat Akilov, used a truck to plow into a crowd of people in the city center. Five were killed. Under questioning, Akilov, who was captured alive, confessed to having received instructions from Noraki. Akilov reportedly described Noraki as “an influential member of Islamic State group.”
According to Radio Ozodi, Noraki is also accused by Russian security services of plotting terrorist attacks on shopping centers in Moscow.
He is viewed as a potentially dangerous militant for his ability to draw Tajiks to the Islamic State cause through his Zello account, which reportedly has up to 15,000 subscribers. Authorities in Dushanbe believe he may have recruited dozens of Tajiks.
