According to the Kyrgyz National Security Service (NSS), that evening the intelligence forces attempted to pull out a terror group from a densely populated district in Osh, the regional capital of southern Kyrgyzstan. The Islamist terror group tried to escape in a car, which belonged to Imam Kamalov. As reports suggest, the car ignored requests to pull over and responded with gunfire. On the outskirts of Osh, the intelligence forces had to stop the car by force.

Three men in the car were shot dead, including Kamalov, who was the driver. The NSS identified the other two, Ayubhodji Shahobiddinov and Fathullo Rahimov, citizens of Tajikistan, as members of the IMU. Maps marked with the words “jihad” on Uzbekistan’s territory, false passports, books and storage devices propagating extreme version of Islam, and weapons such as grenades, an assault rifle, and knives were found in the car.

The killing by Kyrgyz special services of a popular imam in the Fergana valley in the course of the operation may signal the shift of Kyrgyzstan’s policy in regard to religion. Some believe the death might bear unpredictable outcomes, given the popularity of Imam Kamalov among ordinary people in the Fergana valley, and the Kyrgyz Special Forces’ conviction that he was involved with illegal extremist organizations.

Muhammadrafiq Kamalov, also widely known as Rafiq Qori Kamoliddin, was a cleric at the Al-Sarahsiy Mosque in Karasuu for over 20 years. It is one of the biggest mosques in the region, attended by up to 5,000 people during Friday prayers. The believers usually come both from nearby villages and from bordering Uzbekistan, from where up to 20 percent of attendees stem. He was also an author of many widely sold religious books. Along with his acknowledged expertise in religion, his rigorous criticism of both the Kyrgyz and Uzbek governments gave him popularity among disaffected people.

On August 11, the day of Friday prayers, the son of Muhammadrafiq Kamalov, Rashod Kamalov, and his relatives assembled a mass meeting, which anticipated about 10,000-20,000 people. However, only a thousand people turned up, because having learned about the gathering, Uzbekistan’s authorities impeded many people from crossing the border. Moreover, many people according to locals refused to pray with another preacher and did no want to encounter intelligence forces, the presence of which was obvious.

At the gathering, people demanded from the Mufti of Kyrgyzstan, Murataly Aji Jumanov, that Kamalov be considered a ‘martyr’, something that definitely contradicted the government’s accusations. Murataly Aji complied with the crowd’s demand, calling for tolerance and urging the people not to allow destabilization. The initial ground for the demand was laid on the funeral when the people, carrying their imam’s body down the streets of Karasuu, roared “Allahu Akbar” for two hours. Despite the turnout of a thousand people, this occurrence was understood as breaching the traditions of Islam, thus reinforcing the suspicions of those who believe Kamalov belonged to a radical movement.

Before the mass meeting, perhaps taking into account the potential direness of the situation, the NSS released a statement saying there is a possibility that the imam was held as a hostage, thus leaving a room for investigation. On the same day after the gathering, about 400 people appointed Rashod Kamalov in the place of his father as imam of Al-Sarahsiy, with hardly any discussion.

On May 25, Muhammadragiq Kamalov had been interrogated by the NSS. The imam denied all connections with the IMU or any other illegal organizations. He was released the same day, after the supporters of the imam said they would protest if he was not freed. However, currently the NSS reports that back then they found disks with illegal information and phone numbers of IMU members in his notebook.

Even though Kamalov denied connections with any radical movements, his mosque was open for everybody. He referred to members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir as the “distracted from the true path.” This partially explains the popularity of Al-Sarahsiy. Estimates suggest there are about 5,000 members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the south of Kyrgyzstan.

Imam Kamalov was a close relative of two influential religious workers, Muhammadi Qori who was repressed by Uzbek Authorities, and Abduvali Qori who disappeared in Tashkent airport, where he was heading to an international Islam conference. Uzbek mass media has branded the latter as a spiritual leader of the Akramiya radical group, which fueled the Andijan events in May 2005.