Central Asian militants spoiling for combat

[unhappycamper]

Central Asian militants spoiling for combat
By Abubakar Siddique
Dec 8, 2010

A decade after its debut on the terrorism scene in the Pamirs as Central Asia's most aggressive militant group, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has undergone a transformation hundreds of kilometers to the southeast, in the mountains of Pakistan's restive Waziristan region.

The IMU is no longer a small band of militants focused on taking down the Uzbek regime and replacing it with an Islamic state. Today, it has a much wider reach and more ambitious goals, and has underlined its revival with attacks that suggest a presence across a wide swathe of South and Central Asia.

Recently, militants belonging directly to the IMU or its offshoots have been tied to a deadly bomb attack in Tajikistan and violence in the country's eastern Rasht Valley. Its name has been linked to terror plots targeting Europe. Experts say security forces encountered elements of the IMU during sweeps in southern Kyrgyzstan this month, and see indications that the group is gathering strength in Central Asia and building new sanctuaries in northern Afghanistan.

Few would have predicted this at the turn of the century.

After leaving Central Asia for Afghanistan to join the Taliban in their final push against Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Masud in 2000, IMU militants were all but wiped out while fighting against US-led forces in November 2001. From there they sought refuge across the border in northwest Pakistan.



unhappycamper comment: To quote Kindasleezy, "Who would have thought?"