Uzbekistan terror group and al-Qaeda exchanging militants

By Shakar Saadi in Tashkent
For Al-Shorfa.com
2012-02-07

German citizen Monir Chouka, also known as Abu Adam, is shown in a frame grab from a 2009 video. Security agencies say the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and al-Qaeda are recruiting terrorists in numerous countries. [IMU video]

Recent UN reports suggest that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is recruiting followers in Europe with al-Qaeda's help. Analysts believe the move aims to combine efforts to establish a caliphate in Central Asia.

"A purposeful penetration of one terrorist organisation by another's members is under way," said Uzbek security analyst Yelena Fadeyeva. "It is meant to increase the effectiveness of their co-operation in waging a jihad [to establish a] caliphate."

The IMU, which al-Qaeda supports and finances, often exchanges militants with al-Qaeda, said Akramkhan Ismailov, an Uzbek National Security Service (SNB) analyst. "Clearly this is a unique way of exchanging experiences," he said.

One such militant is Mevlut Kar, a German citizen who in 2003 was sentenced in absentia by a Lebanese court to 15 years imprisonment for trying to form an al-Qaeda cell in Lebanon, Ismailov said. Kar has also participated in terrorist acts against coalition forces on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Kar also plotted several terrorist acts in 2007 with the brothers Yassin and Monir Chouka, Ismailov said.

"In October 2011, Monir Chouka, on behalf of the IMU, took responsibility for a terrorist act in Afghanistan that cost five coalition soldiers their lives," Ismailov said.

Eleven Afghan civilians were killed and eight others wounded in that suicide bombing, according to media reports.

Kar, Chouka brothers added to international terrorist list

Kar, Yassin Chouka and Monir Chouka were added to the UN list of international terrorists on January 25th.

All three men are considered to be recruiters, propagandists and facilitators of terrorism, according to the UN, and are believed to be somewhere in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

According to the UN terrorism listing, Kar is suspected of being a member in the International Jihadist Union (IJU), whose "object and goal was to commit attacks with explosives within Germany".

The German Federal Court of Justice issued a warrant for Kar's arrest in August 2009 after his role in a plot to smuggle detonators into Germany by hiding them in shoes, according to the UN. The court also cited his membership in the IJU.

The German Federal Court of Justice issued warrants for the arrest of the Chouka brothers in October 2010 "based on the strong suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization abroad" after they made several videos promoting armed militancy. In one video, they called upon supporters in Germany to kill the German president and ordinary citizens, according to the UN.

Ismailov recalled another instance of terrorist co-operation. In February 2011, German authorities in Essen and Cologne detained two young men suspected of belonging to both the IMU and al-Qaeda. An investigation determined that in 2009 and 2010, they had attended a terrorist training camp in the Afghan-Pakistani border zone and helped deliver 39,000 euros ($51,200) to IMU leaders in that area.

Recruiting students in Europe

Al-Qaeda and the IMU propagandise their idea of a Central Asian caliphate among Muslims living in Europe, Fadeyeva said. The extremists concentrate on countries involved in the fight against international terrorism, including those with troops in Afghanistan.

"There are not many radicals living in Germany," Ismailov said. "However, the threat of terrorist acts in those countries is not an abstraction at all."

"Students from Central Asia, as well as from Muslim countries, are studying in Europe. They could […] become recruiting targets for the IMU," Ismailov said.

Security co-operation 'essential'

To destroy both groups, strong international co-operation is essential, Ismailov said. "The stronger our co-operation, the faster we can wipe them out."

Bakhodyr Zilyayev, chief of the Uzbek general prosecutor's Department for Fighting Tax and Currency Crimes and Legalising Criminal Income, agreed. "Only through tight co-operation of the security services of all countries will it be possible to cut off the activities of terrorist organisations and preventing terrorist acts," he said.

Last year, the fight against the IMU and al-Qaeda enjoyed notable successes, Ismailov said. "The IMU in December 2011 published a list of its own commanders and fighters who were killed in 2010-2011," he said. "The list had militants from Afghanistan, the former Soviet Union and Pakistan. It is a clear example of how joint work makes it possible to wipe out the [terrorist] threat."

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