Turkish media reports said Thursday (June 22) that police in Istanbul have said they detained Tajik citizen Shamil Hukumatov on suspicion of being one of leaders of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist organization.
Citing Turkish security sources, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on June 22 that Shamil Hukumatov of Tajikistan is a “high-ranking” terrorist of the Daesh-K (Daesh is Arabic acronym formed from the initial letters of the group's previous name in Arabic – "al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham") and is believed to have been involved in new recruits for the terrorist group as well as providing them with money.
According to media reports, IS-K head Sanaullah Ghaffari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, was killed in the northwestern Kunar province of Afghanistan in the first week of June. According to AA, he was responsible for a number of deadly attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide bombing at Kabul Airport in August 2021 that killed over 180 people. The interim Taliban administration, however, has yet to confirm his death.
During Thursday’s raid, Istanbul police reportedly detained Hukumatov's wife, identified only by her initials as M.S., and recovered a significant amount of information, documents, and materials related to the terrorist group during a search of their residence.
According to AA, Hukumatov was remanded in custody by the local court after completing the necessary procedures at the police station, while his wife, M.S., was released under judicial supervision,
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported on June 23 that sources say the Tajik government has issued an arrest warrant for Hukumatov, also known by his nom de guerre "Abu Miskin," for alleged subversive activities in the country.
Hukumatov, also known as Abu Miskin, has allegedly been involved in recruiting fighters for IS-K. Islamic State-Khorasan, created in 2014, wants to create an Islamic state of the Great Khorasan in the territory of Afghanistan, eastern parts of Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.
Radio Ozodi further said that Tajik authorities have yet to comment on the reports about Hukumatov’s detention in Turkey.
IS-K is active in South Asia and Central Asia. IS-K has been active in Afghanistan and its area of operations includes Pakistan, Tajikistan and India where they claimed attacks, as well as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh and China where individuals have pledged allegiance to it. The IS-K and Taliban consider each other enemies.
The group was created in January 2015 by disaffected Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, although its membership includes individuals from various countries notably Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. Its initial leaders, Hafiz Saeed Khan and Abdul Rauf Aliza, were killed by US forces in July 2016 and February 2015, respectively. Subsequent leaders have also been killed; its leader Abdullah Orokzai was captured in April 2020 by Afghanistan's intelligence service.
