Tag Archives: Islamic extremism

Tajik police shaves 13000 beards

JAN. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In 2015, officials in Tajikistan shaved off beards on nearly 13,000 men, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported quoting a police press conference. The police described the purge as a war against excessive Islamic influences in the country. Tajikistan has said constantly over the past few years that Islamic radicals pose a real threat to its security. Rights activists have said this is simply another way of imposing control.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Two Georgians die fighting IS

JAN. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Two Georgian nationals from the Pankisi Gorge in the north of the country have died in Syria fighting for the Islamic radical group IS, media reported quoting intelligence services. The Pankisi Gorge is a predominantly Muslim enclave. Georgia’s security forces have said that at least 50 men from the Pankisi Gorge have joined IS in Syria.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Azerbaijani police target Nardaran

JAN. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Azerbaijan detained at least 50 people during a police operation in the district of Nardaran, 30km outside Baku, a follow-up to police raids on so-called Islamic terrorists last year that killed at least eight people. Nardaran is considered one of the most religiously conservative areas of Azerbaijan with many people living there looking to Iran for support and guidance. Azerbaijan is, officially, a secular country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

ICG warns Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan on Taliban threat

JAN. 11 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Anti-terrorist operations by Pakistan’s military along its border with Afghanistan have pushed Islamist fighters north, increasing the threat posed by the Taliban to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

The ICG said these battle-hardened radicals had played a key role in briefly capturing Kunduz, on the border with Tajikistan, last year.

“Insecurity in Afghanistan’s northern provinces, including Taliban control of districts across from Tajikistan, has increased pressure, with risk that battle-experienced Islamic militants could link up with even small numbers of potential allies inside the country,” ICG wrote.

The ICG is an influential voice. Its report sides with Russia’s analysis that stability along Central Asia’s southern border has worsened.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Iran welcome for opposition angers Tajikistan

DEC. 29 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin)– Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Muhiddin Kabiri, the exiled head of Tajikistan’s now-banned main opposition party, in Tehran, immediately drawing threats from Tajik officials that the meeting would damage bilateral relations.

The major show of support from Iran for Mr Kabiri, who is wanted by police in Tajikistan to face various terrorism charges, and his Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) is a poke in the eye for Dushanbe, officially a secular country.

Tajikistan and Iran have traditionally close relations, sharing many similar cultural, religious and ethnic identifiers. Iran has also been a major sponsor of essential hydropower infrastructure in Tajikistan.

The Tajik foreign ministry sent a note to the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe which said: “Such an attitude to the enemies of the state and the people of Tajikistan can have a negative impact on the friendly relations between Tajikistan and Iran.”

In September, Tajikistan banned the IRPT, once Tajikistan’s main opposition party, and accused its members of supporting radical Islam and terrorism.

Mr Kabiri, who fled into exile, and his supporters have accused the Tajik government of crushing dissent.

In Dushanbe, an analyst who preferred to remain anonymous told The Conway Bulletin that Mr Kabiri was taking a gamble by appearing in Tehran.

“For Kabiri and the IRPT, after having no support at all from the West, Iran was the last chance to stay in the political arena,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Tajikistan targets IRPT families

DEC. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police have detained the family of Muhiddin Kabiri, the fugitive leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), media reported. The IRPT had been Tajikistan’s main opposition group until it was outlawed. Most of its leaders have been arrested. Mr Kabiri, though, is on the run.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Kazakhstan denies IS child camp allegation

DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh ambassador to Singapore, Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev, put out a statement denying reports in Malaysia’s media that the Islamic extremist group IS had established a training map for children in Kazakhstan. Malaysian media had been quoting Malaysia’s counter- terrorism chief.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Tajikistan jails IS sympathisers

DEC. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in south-west Tajikistan has sentenced seven people, including three under the age of 18, to jail for raising a flag in support of the radical IS group, RFE/RL reported. Tajikistan is concerned about IS recruitment. The seven people received jail sentences of 7 to 27 years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Georgian police arrests 4 ‘IS sympathisers’

DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian security forces arrested four men in a village in the west of the country who they said were planning various terrorist attacks, one week after the extremist group IS called for a revolution in Georgia.

The deputy head of Georgia’s security services, Levan Izoria, said that the arrests were made during a search of 11 houses.

“Information had been obtained identifying several individuals who support Islamic State ideology,” media quoted him as saying.

A photo taken after the arrests showed several heavily armed Georgian security forces personnel wearing combat uniforms leading four men in handcuffs.

Georgia is concerned about IS using it as a transit country to send recruits to Syria. IS recruits travelling to Syria have flown to Tbilisi and then travelled west to the border with Turkey. From there they can reach Syria. Since an attack in Paris last month that killed 130 people Georgia has boosted its border controls.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Tajikistan extradites 2 men to Kyrgyzstan

NOV. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Tajikistan sent two Kyrgyz men to Kyrgyzstan for allegedly trying to recruit people to join the radical IS group in Syria and Iraq, media reported. Central Asian governments are worried about an increase in IS recruiting in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)