DUSHANBE, August 10, 2009, Asia-Plus — An alleged militant of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has been killed in a clash with a special unit of one the country’s law enforcement agencies on the western outskirt of Dushanbe, Tajik law authorities said.
The source said that a special operation was conducted in the village of Arbobkhotoun on August 9. “According to information received, two members of IMU were allegedly in one of houses in the villages,” said the source, “When the house was surrounded and the special unit officers burst into it they fell under heavy fire. The shooter was killed in shootout; as it turned out he was alone in the house.”
The killed had assault rifle Kalashnikov and a large amount of ammunition. When searching the house’s basement the law enforcement officers found a large amount of subversive literature.
The killed was identified; however, the source refused to disclose his name in the interest of investigation. Operation to search for and detention of his confederate is under way.
According to Tajik law enforcement authorities, some 20 members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, including several militants, have been detained in Tajikistan since the beginning of this year. They were reportedly involved in recent armed attacks in eastern Tajikistan.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 by former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani and the Islamic ideologue Tohir Yuldash – both ethnic Uzbeks from the Ferghana Valley. Its objective was to overthrow President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, and create an Islamic state under Sharia.
The IMU launched a series of raids into southern Kyrgyzstan in 1999 and 2000. However, in 2001 the IMU was largely destroyed while fighting alongside the Taliban against United States-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. Namangani was killed, and the IMU”s remaining fighters were dispersed. Yuldash and an unknown number of fighters escaped with remnants of the Taliban to Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
According to some sources, despite occasional proclamations from Yuldash, and rumors of a reemergence under the name the Islamic Movement of Turkestan (IMT), there is no reliable evidence indicating that the IMU/IMT remains an operational force in Central Asia.
