[iwar] [fc:The.Central.Asian.Taliban]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-22 15:15:44

Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Resurrecting.an.ancient.face.of.evil]"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Special.forces.are.'painting'.Afghan.targets.for.US.strikes]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]

Message-Id: <200110222215.f9MMFiC10392@red.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 15:15:44 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:The.Central.Asian.Taliban]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

The Central Asian Taliban

Central Asia, October 22, 2001 [ 09:59 ]
By Daan van der Schriek, TCA &lt;http://www.times.kg/ 

BISHKEK.(TCA) - Recently, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), infamous
because of the incursions it made into Kyrgyz and Uzbek territory in 1999
and 2000, renamed itself Hizb-i-Islami Turkestan, or the Islamic Party of
Turkestan (IPT). On the one hand, this was an adjustement to the fact that
by far not all of its members are Uzbekis. On the other hand, it reflects an
expanded aspiration of its leadership.

At the time of the first incursion of what was then still called the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan, the IMU had no more than a handful of members. Now,
there are said to be three thousand. The IMU was organised in Taliban held
Afghanistan by Juma Namangani and Tahir Joldashev, with the help of the
Taliban and Bin Laden. Its main goal was to overthrow President Karimov of
Uzbekistan and to make an Islamic state of the latter country, but it also
became involved in drug and arms smuggling. And, last but not least, it
supported the Taliban with their actions. 

The incursions of 1999 and 2000 were helpful to the Taliban in that they
threatened the bases of the Northern Alliance in Tajikistan, but lately, the
IMU started to support the Taliban more openly. This spring, Namangani -
known as Juma Hakim in Afghanistan - fought with 3000 fighters with the
Taliban against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. And right now, they
are standing again side by side with the Taliban. This help has made
Namangani's group very important for the Taliban: it is said that Namangani
is now the most honoured guest of the Taliban after Bin Laden.

The IMU, then, has been very active outside Uzbekistan. That was one reason
to change its name. Another was that the IMU is made up of many
nationalities, not only of Uzbekis, but also of, for example, Uyghurs,
Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Chechens.

Thus, also for this reason it was logical to change from name: the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan became the Islamic Party of Turkestan. This IPT was,
just as the IMU, launched in Taliban held country. It is still a priority of
the IPT to topple Karimov, but now it also wants to liberate the whole of
Turkestan - from Xinjiang to the Caspian Sea. It is hoped that the overthrow
of Karimov will have a domino effect and make the other Central Asian states
weaker. 

The change in name from Movement to Party implies that the group has
broadened its aspirations, perhaps in the hope of enlarging its following.
It probably means that the group will develop more of an ideology, which
wasn't the strongest point of the IMU, as well.

However, it remains to be seen, now that the IPT suffers with the Taliban
under allied attacks, how many of its 3000 fighters will survive. But even
if the IPT will be largely wiped out in Afghanistan, that won't be the end
of it. The IPT, expanded aspirations or not, is rooted in Central Asian -
especially Uzbek - problems that can't be blasted away. The IPT, moreover,
isn't a terrorist organisation like Bin Laden's al-Qaeda. It doesn't want
the death of America. It wants a caliphate in Turkestan.

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/UnN2wB/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Resurrecting.an.ancient.face.of.evil]"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Special.forces.are.'painting'.Afghan.targets.for.US.strikes]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:56 PST