On June 23, the Kyrgyz State Committee on National Security (GKNB) conducted a special operation against members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a regional terrorist group. The event parallels numerous similar actions that have recently taken place in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The developments point to an increasing threat of local terrorist groups being driven from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas and actively pursuing their agenda in Central Asia following the intensified attacks by the ISAF in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The GKNB reported that 5 terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the IMU, were killed in the operation that took place in the Ferghana Valley in the southern city of Jalalabad. The skirmish resulted in the death of one member of the Special Forces. Weapons, instructions for making explosives, and black masks and uniforms were discovered in the one-story house which the terrorists used as a safe haven. The operation will allegedly be subjected to a special investigation by the Kyrgyz Parliament. Rashid Tagaev, a member of Parliament, underlined that the terrorists were citizens of neighboring countries. He also confirmed the KGNB’s information that the terrorists were previously trained in Pakistan. According to Kyrgyz law enforcement officials, one of the killed terrorists had a relative who had been involved in a number of terrorist acts in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the “24kg” information agency reported.

Originating in Central Asia, the IMU seeks to overthrow the secular regime in Uzbekistan and establish a caliphate. Aligned with the Arab-led Al Qaeda, it enhances Al Qaeda’s potential to recruit regional Turkic people to support global jihad against the West and ‘apostate’ regimes of the Middle East. While the IMU emphasizes the struggle against the ‘near enemies’ in Central Asia, its activities threaten EU and U.S. security interests and undermine Transatlantic and EU relations with Central Asia. It is also in the position to capitalize on narcotics trafficking in the region to fund growing operations in Europe, Central Asia, and Pakistan/Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Deputy Head of the Tajik GKNB, General Abdullo Nazarov, believes that Tahir Yuldashev, the IMU’s leader who had allegedly been killed during a U.S. drone attack, is still alive.

Back in May, Uzbek authorities witnessed terrorist attacks on a checkpoint and on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Security Service in Khanabad city, once home to the American airbase. The attacks were attributed to the IMU. In another case, six people sentenced on charges of membership in the regional extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir were imprisoned in Uzbekistan. And on June 23, the Tajik national security services detained more than 40 Islamic fundamentalists in a Dushanbe mosque. The arrested, many of whom had studied in Islamic schools in Pakistan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, are suspected of inciting religious strife and being adherents of the illegal Salafiyya movement.

The number of cases involving terrorism and fundamentalism illustrates both the failure of the regional states to address local political and economic grievances and, ironically, a slim success of the ISAF in Pakistan and Afghanistan that pushes more and more IMU members back to its traditional playground. Despite the demonstrated vigilance, the regional security services are not adequately prepared to meet the growing threat. The former Secretary of the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan, Miroslav Niyazov, stressed the vulnerability of Kyrgyz national security: “We are not ready to fight off external and internal threats. Frankly speaking, there is no nation-wide level system of security [in Kyrgyzstan].” In light of the recent upsurge in regional terrorist activity, MP Tagaev underlined the importance of the US-Kyrgyzstan agreement on the continuing presence of the US base in the country.

Jakypbek Azizov, the head of the Public Security Administration of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs, stressed that deployment of internal security forces to the country’s south is a response to the situation in Afghanistan and to the infiltration of militants under the disguise of businessmen and civilian experts. The terrorists apparently seek to destabilize the country during the Presidential elections scheduled for July 23.

The conducted arrests are not enough to adequately address the growing threat of terrorism and fundamentalism in the region. Economic development and democratization of the Central Asian states, reconstruction of Afghanistan and solidification of Pakistan as stable and legitimate states are required. The regional sates should also actively pursue coordinated intelligence, immigration, and anti-narcotics trafficking policies. Crucial and most challenging in the overall efforts will be tilting the balance between the need for democratization of the authoritarian regimes and willingness of these states to promote regional security in favor of the former without undermining the latter.