Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported on January 9 that Tajik militant Muhammad Sharifov (aka Mahdi Arsalon), who is wanted in Dushanbe on terrorism charges, disappeared in Afghanistan months ago.
After taking over Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban rulers appointed Sharifov, 30, to oversee districts along the Afghan-Tajik border. Militants of the Ansarullah group were placed under his command. Tajikistan then expressed concerns over the presence of Ansarullah, which consists mostly of Tajiks who are not loyal to the Tajik government, close to the mutual border. The Taliban later moved Ansarullah militants to other sites, apparently to ease tensions with Dushanbe.
Recall, Arsalon has been wanted by the Tajik authorities for more than nine years on terrorism charges. Officials said in 2022 that Arsalon and more than 200 Tajik citizens are in the ranks of the Taliban, forming a group known as the "Tajik Taliban."
Reports of a “new” Taliban-affiliated group, called Tehrik-e-Taliban Tajikistan (TTT), emerged in July 2022. TTT’s roots are traced back to the al-Qaida-affiliated Jamaat Ansarullah (JA), which was established by Tajik nationals a decade ago with the goal of overthrowing the secular government in Dushanbe. Some experts note that the TTT comprises many second-generation militants of Jamaat Ansarullah.
Arsalon, who was born in Nourobod district, Rasht Valley in eastern Tajikistan, is reportedly the son and brother of JA veterans. According to some sources, he joined Jamaat Ansarullah in 2014. Described as “dangerous and ruthless,” Arsalon reportedly followed the jihadist footsteps of his father and elder brother, both of whom were killed by Tajik security forces.
Arsalon had been responsible for the Taliban-run border guard in five districts of Afghanistan's Darwaz district, but he and a group of his fighters had since been transferred to Khwahan district in the northeastern Badakhshan Province. Khawhan district is located just across from Tajikistan's Shamsiddin-Shohin district, which is considered the most troublesome area along the Afghan-Tajik border.
Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as the Society of Allah’s Soldiers, was founded in 2010 by Amriddin Tabarov, who had been a field commander for anti-government Islamist forces during Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war. Tabarov, also known as Mullah Amriddin, was killed by Afghan government forces in 2015.
Initially, Ansarullah’s members were former Tajik opposition fighters who refused to accept a 1997 peace agreement between the government in Dushanbe and the Islamist-led opposition.
The so-called new generation — children and relatives of the initial members and supporters — have since joined the group.
Since its creation, Ansarullah has had links with other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.
Tajikistan’s Supreme Court officially banned Jamaat Ansarullah as extremist in May 2012 on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
