• KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01152 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00191 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09168 -0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28490 0%
05 December 2024

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 123

Investigation into ISIS-linked Group Smuggling Uzbek Migrants into the U.S.

The US Department of Homeland Security is investigating a cross-border group that smuggled more than 400 migrants into the country in connection with ISIS, CNN reported. Officials said the group claimed it was smuggling migrants into the country, not terrorists. However, another criminal organization related to this group was “blacklisted” last summer due to its links with ISIS. This led to all those associated being added to the list of suspects. It has been confirmed that the group being investigated for its ties to ISIS, brought more than 400 people to the United States. The majority were citizens of Central Asia, and particularly, Uzbekistan. In a press report issued on June 26, Secretary of Internal Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas stated that no evidence had been found regarding connections between the 400 migrants and ISIS. However, it was noted that the group that brought them into the country may have provided indirect support to the terrorist organization. Over the past month, the United States has intensified checks on immigrants from Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In recent raids, eight citizens of Tajikistan were arrested on suspicion of being connected to terrorist groups. The state leadership has been tasked to determine whether citizens of Uzbekistan are associated with criminal groups.

Germany Negotiating Afghan Deportation Deal with Uzbekistan

The government of the Republic of Uzbekistan may agree with the leadership of Germany on sending its labor migrants to Europe in return for the deportation of Afghan refugees. This was reported by the Bloomberg agency. According to sources, Germany is negotiating with Uzbekistan on the conclusion of a migration pact, which may include the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers, so that Berlin does not have to make direct deals with the Taliban. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised a tougher stance on migration, including the deportation of asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Syria. The decision follows a recent series of violent attacks and growing sympathy for the populist far-right in Germany. Interior Minister Nancy Feather, a senior member of Scholz's center-left Social Democrats party, sent officials to the Uzbek capital, Tashkent in late May to negotiate a pact on migration and deportation. Any prospective deal is yet to be finalized. Under the proposed plan, the Uzbek government would accept a limited number of rejected Afghan asylum seekers deported from Germany, and then send them to neighboring Afghanistan using private flights to Kabul. The Uzbek government is considering the idea, but wants any migration pact to also include bilateral rules allowing for the legal migration of skilled workers from Uzbekistan to Germany. According to sources, the German government's special representative for migration agreements, Joachim Stamp, will soon travel to Uzbekistan for further negotiations on such an agreement. An interior ministry spokeswoman declined to comment on the plan, which was also reported by Der Spiegel magazine and the DPA news agency. Following a fatal knife attack by an Afghan refugee on a German policeman, Chancellor Scholz, delivering a speech on law and order in parliament on June 6, said his government would allow criminals to be deported to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Syria. "Serious criminals and terrorist threats have no place here," Scholz said, adding that the interior ministry was working on practical implementation and was already in talks with countries bordering Afghanistan. Germany previously completely halted deportations to Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban returned to power in the summer of 2021.

U.S. Blacklists Uzbek Nationals Due to ISIS Connections

The U.S. State Department, in agreement with the Republic of Turkey, has announced that it added a number of individuals to the “blacklist” of the ISIS terrorist group. The department recognized the leader of ISIS in Georgia, Adam Khamirzayev, as a “global terrorist.” All three members of the ISIS-related smuggling network have been identified as terrorists, and all three of them are from Uzbekistan: Muhammadyusuf Alisher Ogli Mirzoev is a Uzbekistani national involved in work to establish an ISIS-linked “military” training camp in mid-2023. Mirzoev is also being designated by the Government of Turkey. Muhammad Ibrohimjon Niyazov is a Uzbekistani national and a supporter of the ISIS-linked smuggling network. Niyazov has provided administrative and logistics support for ISIS members in Turkey. Niyazov is also being designated by the Government of Turkey. Olimkhon Makhmudjon Ugli Ismailov is based in Uzbekistan and is a member of the ISIS-linked smuggling network. Internal measures are being taken against all of the men in Turkey. As stated in the report, any U.S. or foreign persons who engages in certain transactions with these individuals may be exposed to sanctions, including under secondary sanctions authorities.

Radicalism Attracts Disenfranchised Youth in Tajikistan

On June 11th, eight natives of Tajikistan were detained in the United States suspected of attempting to organize terrorist attacks and belonging to ISIS. Previously, citizens of Tajikistan were arrested in Russia, accused of participating in the attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow. In just the past few years, natives of Central Asian states have been involved in ten attempted terrorist attacks. Zamir Karazhanov, a Kazakhstani political scientist and director of the Kemel Arna Public Foundation, believes that the deteriorating economic situation in the country is behind such radicalization. As reported by TCA, eight citizens of Tajikistan taken into custody in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia are suspected of having links to the terrorist group, ISIS. The detentions were made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in close coordination with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Initially, it was stated that those arrested were Russian citizens of Tajik origin, but now their nationality has now been clarified. Citing sources from law enforcement agencies, media in the U.S. has reported that officially the migrants were held in connection with the violation of immigration laws. At the same time, they have not yet been charged with making preparations for a terrorist attack. According to sources, FBI agents have been following those detained for several months, and audio picked up by a bug allegedly has one of the suspects talking "about bombs.” Several days have now elapsed, but the U.S. authorities are still to release an official comment. The authorities in Tajikistan, meanwhile, are glossing over the incident. However, a Radio Ozodi source in New York said that the detentions of citizens from Central Asian countries began two months ago, since when 20 people have been detained, including 16 natives of Tajikistan, though “some of them were later released,” the source stated. According to the political scientist and Russia expert, Malek Dudakov, 50,000 Central Asians illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 alone: 17,000 from Uzbekistan, 7,000 from Kyrgyzstan, and 3,000 from Tajikistan. "Republicans blame Biden for artificially creating an explosive situation inside the United States, which could lead to a wave of terrorist attacks. And U.S. law enforcers fear that the U.S. may also expect an October 7th scenario in Israel with simultaneous attacks by Islamists in different cities,” he wrote on the Telegram. Following the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall, several countries, including Russia and Turkey, have tightened their migration policies toward people from Tajikistan. Kazakhstani political scientist, Zamir Karazhanov, told The Times of Central Asia that terrorist movements are influencing Tajik citizens because of the dire economic situation in the country. "During the 1990s and the civil war, a severe Islamicization of society began. Families were Islamiziced, and the economic factor, poverty, was superimposed on this. Similar processes were observed in all Central Asian countries, where religious young people began to come into contact with various radical extremist organizations. They are then processed and brainwashed into believing that everything they do is for the good...

Group of Central Asians Charged in Germany on Terrorism Offenses

Germany's justice system has charged seven Central Asians, aged 20 to 46, with preparing terrorist attacks on behalf of the Islamic State - Khorasan Province (ISIS-K). The suspects were arrested back in July 2023 in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. The citizens of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are accused of creating a terrorist organization. According to the German prosecutor's office, they intended to carry out terrorist attacks in Western Europe, but at the time of their arrest they did not have any specific plan. In March of this year, ISIS-K took responsibility for the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow, which killed 145 people. German law enforcement authorities believe that some of the attackers entered Germany via Ukraine after Russia's February 2022 invasion, while others came from the Netherlands. Before their arrest, the suspects are alleged to have periodically met to discuss potential locations for a terrorist attack. According to police information, they were also engaged in fundraising for terrorist activities. German law enforcement agencies have been on constant alert since the terrorist attack in December 2016, when radical Islamist Anis Amri drove a truck into a crowd of people in Berlin's Breitscheidplatz Square.

Islamic State – Khorasan Province: An Element of Geopolitical Rivalry?

In the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Moscow, the media has once again been saturated with discussions about the terrorist group Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP), also known as ISIS-Khorasan and “Wilayat Khorasan.” At this point, most of the coverage has focused on the Afghan wing of Islamic State, and not its other “wilayats,” such as on the Arabian Peninsula, “Wilayat Sinai” (Islamic State – Sinai Province) or “Wilayat Caucasus” (Islamic State – Caucasus Province). The international media covering the ISKP attack in Moscow, including journalists from Russia, widely speculated that the terrorist group is looking at Central Asia as its next base. Such media coverage included a variety of sentiments indicating that Central Asia should be worried. Reports have suggested that the alliance of Central Asian leaders with Moscow makes them look weak in the eyes of ISKP and that the terrorist threat emanating from Central Asia has become a point of weakness for the Putin regime. It has also been suggested that Islamic terrorism in Central Asia remains a real problem for the FSB, and even though the FSB has extensive experience in fighting extremists in the Caucasus, having committed enormous resources to the issue, Central Asia is a blind spot. Alarm bells sounded that regional jihadist groups have become more powerful. Thus, the terrorist attack in Moscow significantly increased media attention on ISKP in the context of Central Asia. Overall, the ISKP theme fits into existing narratives regarding threats to the southern border of the CIS. Sanaullah Ghafari, Emir of ISIS-K; image: rewardsforjustice.net   The more likely reality is that in Central Asia, ISKP has been more of a challenge to regional security than an existential threat. In recent years, the region has been broadly successful in dealing with threats from Afghanistan.   How real of a threat is the ISKP? A very narrow circle of experts can give a truly objective assessment of ISKP. Information about ISKP membership is contradictory and seemingly based on political considerations. As such, it is difficult to back these up with statistics. The number of fighters reported vary greatly from 2,000 to several tens of thousands. What remains indisputable are two facts: 1. Despite measures declared by the Taliban to eliminate the ISKP, terrorist acts by the group are still recorded throughout Afghanistan, and 2. The group lacks a serious infrastructure in Afghanistan. The activity of ISKP in Afghanistan consists of carrying out targeted, low-level terrorist acts, mainly against local Hazara Shiites. Based on the assessments of the UN Afghanistan monitoring team, the potential of ISKP success looks dubious. In its reports, UN experts point to a decrease in ISKP activity in Afghanistan. Recently, the UN has avoided estimating the size of the group, but previous estimates put it at 1,500-2,200 fighters. At the same time, according to a UN report in January, “ISKP adopted a more inclusive recruitment strategy, including by focusing on attracting disillusioned Taliban and foreign fighters.” Taliban officials, meanwhile, tend to play down the situation....