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http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 333 Antonio Alonso Marcos Central Asians fighting in Syria: the danger of... people, to the extent that Tajikistan’s Minister of the Interior, Ramazon Rakhimzoda, stated that 200 young Tajiks had already left Russia by March 201555. Muhammad Umar Safi, governor of the Afghan Province of Kunduz stated that: “About 70 ISIL IS members have been presently observed in the Dashti Archi and Chahar Dara districts of Kunduz Province ... The militants also intend to step up activity in Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, and Faryab provinces in the north. Earlier reports came in about ISIL militants turning up in the southern Zabul and Helmand provinces, as well as Ghazni Province.”56. According to the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS), IS forces have mobilised from the south through to the north of Afghanistan, appearing in 2015 in Almar district (Faryab province), and, according to senator Gulmuhammad Rasuli, natives of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have been seen among them57. This last detail could put paid to Turkmenistan’s traditional neutrality as it could force it to get involved in the fight against the Taliban or against IS, having to take sides with one of the international players active in the area. Among the Central Asian members fighting on the side of IS in the previously mentioned jamaats are: Abu Saloh Hafizahulloh, who fights under the IBJ flag; Abu Hafs al-Uzbeki and Abu Sa’ad al-Uzbeki, members of IBJ who appear in a propaganda video entitled “Join the Ranks”; Abdul Aziz al Uzbeki, who, together with Abu Dujana al Tunisi stormed a massive gathering of sympathisers of the Dajjal Army (Mahdi Army) in Sadr City (Baghdad), where 395 “apostates” – as they are called by IS – were killed or injured; the previously mentioned Gulmurod Halimov; Nusrat Nazarov, previously known as Abu Kholidi Kulobi, a 38 year old Tajik from the village of Charmagon in Kulob district; and, finally, the case of Farrukh Sharifov from Khujand (north Tajikistan) who publicly showed repentance for having fought on the side of IS and who has, since then, been giving speeches to dissuade young people from going to Syria58. But what is IS’s modus operandi in Central Asia? They recruit new members in mosques and other prayer halls. As part of their strategy, personal contact is very important, as 55  See “Interior Minister Claims ‘200 Tajik Labor Migrants Left Russia To Fight In Syria’”, RFE/ RL, 4 March 2015, under http://www.russianinsight.com/interior-minister-claims-200-tajik-labor-migrants- left-russia-to-fight-in-syria-3, consulted 20 January 2016. 56  BAHROM, N.: “Tajikistan: Islamic State Militants Seen near Border with Afghanistan”, Eurasia Review, 13 February 2015, under www.eurasiareview.com/13022015-tajikistan-islamic-state-militants-seen- near-border-afghanistan, consulted 2 May 2015. 57  ANNAYEV, D.: “Islamic State Raises Flag on Turkmen-Afghan Border”, Eurasia Review, 5 February 2015, under www.eurasiareview.com/05022015-islamic-state-raises-flag-turkmen-afghan-border, consulted 2 May 2015. 58  See BORISOV, Akbar: “Ex-Soviet Central Asia raises alarm over IS recruitment”, Agence France- Presse AFP, 15 May 2015, under https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-soviet-central-asia-raises-alarm-over- recruitment-052100409.html?ref=gs, consulted 30 May 2015.

REVISTA IEEE 9
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