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ISLAMABAD: The June 8, 2014 fidayeen attack by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targeting the Karachi Airport has proven beyond any iota of doubt that the Waziristan-based Uzbek militants have become a vital component of the TTP which is largely using them to conduct lethal terrorist attacks all over Pakistan.
Both the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the TTP have claimed the attack on Jinnah International Airport, saying that it was a jointly coordinated operation, with the IMU releasing photos of the ten attackers. While the TTP had claimed that the attack was to avenge the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack in Waziristan, the IMU has maintained that the assault was in revenge for the recent PAF air strikes in North Waziristan.
The photos of ten attackers show that all of them are young men in early 20s which means they are from a generation that was born in Pakistan. Thousands of Islamic militants came to Pakistan from Central Asia during the Afghan jehad against the Soviet occupation forces.
These people continued to reside in Pakistan even after the end of the Afghan war and permanently settled in the Waziristan region. Most of them married local Pushtun women, and a new generation that is known as Pushtun-Arabs and Pushtun-Uzbek eventually came into being.
The TTP and IMU have long been working in tandem with each other and conducting joint terrorist attacks, especially targeting Pakistani security forces. However, the April 15, 2012 Bannu Jail operation was perhaps the only event filmed and marketed by IMU. The 25-minute Uzbek-language video, released on June 14, 2012, showed over 200 Taliban militants armed with guns, grenades and rockets, attacking the Bannu Central Jail of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and releasing 384 prisoners, including Adnan Rasheed, an ex-PAF officer who is the suspected mastermind of the Karachi airport attack. The video showed that the jail break operation was carried out jointly by the TTP and IMU. If the contents of the video are to be believed, the jailbreak was planned after Adnan Rashid wrote to the ameer of the Uzbek jehadis, Usman Ghazi, seeking help to get away from Bannu prison. The jailbreak plot was subsequently orchestrated with the support of the Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Adnan Rasheed was later made the chief operational commander of a lethal fidayeen unit (Ansarul Aseer) whose stated mission is to secure freedom for imprisoned jehadis by conducting jail break operations.
The formation of Ansarul Aseer was made public in a January 2013 video which featured not only Adnan, but also Yassin Chouka, one of the most wanted German commanders of the Waziristan-based IMU; and Abdul Hakeem, a Russian IMU member. Produced by Umar Media and Jundallah Studio, the media arms of the TTP and IMU, the video showed Adnan, Chouka and Hakeem seated under a tree and reading their respective statements. Adnan Rasheed was the first one to read a statement announcing the formation of the Ansarul Aseer, besides defining its mission and praising the TTP for managing his release. While addressing the jailed prisoners, Adnan had stated, “The first and foremost aim of the Ansar is to make possible your release by all means. The second aim is to take care of you in jail, provide for your families, fulfill your needs and necessities and arrange finances for your trials. The third purpose is to take revenge on the enemies.
You should send us the names and addresses of those serving the Police, ISI, Army as well as those jail wardens, officers and their aides and spies, plus the names of those who dared to harass your families and old parents and those who still treat you inhumanely. We, the militants, promise you that we will take revenge on them. We also warn the Pakistani security forces and the intelligence agencies against harassing the families of the jehadi prisoners”.
The next to speak on the videotape was the IMU leader Yassin Chouka who praised imprisoned jehadis and addressed the Muslim Ummah, “Look into your hearts and see whom you have dedicated your love to, whom you hate and whom you love. Let me give you a piece of advice: Force your unconcerned soul to love the Muslim captives around the world.”
Better known as Abu Ibrahim al Almani, Chouka is a German citizen from Morocco who, along with his brother Mounir Chouka, features frequently in IMU’s propaganda. The Chouka brothers, who were added to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in January 2012 for planning terrorist attacks worldwide, lead a group of 100-plus German jehadis who are well-settled in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.
A recruiting video of the North Waziristan-based German jehadis, which was produced by the IMU’s propaganda wing and posted on several jehadi websites in March 2012, showed how white men from the West are joining insurgents fighting in Pakistani tribal areas. The video showed many German-speaking gunmen, armed with AK-47s, light machine guns and mortars, taking on the Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan.
Since joining hands, the TTP and IMU have conducted some deadly fidayeen operations across Pakistan. Within weeks of Osama’s killing on May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad by the Americans SEALs, a group of TTP fidayeen attackers stormed the Mehran Naval base in Karachi [on May 22] and destroyed two Orion maritime surveillance aircrafts besides killing ten highly-trained Special Services Group (SSG) commandos. In a ferocious battle which lasted for 15 hours, the attackers lost four men who were later identified as Uzbeks.
Almost two months later, on August 16, 2012, terrorists once again went on rampage and targeted the Kamra Air base of the Pakistan Air Force. At least eight militants were killed in a counter operation that lasted over five hours, killing a PAF security official in the fire exchange. Most of the attackers were foreign nationals and described as Uzbek militants. The Kamra attack was claimed by the TTP.
The next attack was conducted on December 16, 2012 targeting the PAF Air base inside the Peshawar Airport which was almost a replay of the fidayeen attacks on military installations in Karachi and Kamra. And significantly, most of the five fidayeen attackers who were killed in the gun battle with the security forces inside the airport premises were identified as Uzbek nationals. The TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility, saying, “Our target was jet fighter planes and gunship helicopters of the PAF”.
In fact, the Uzbek militants have been active in Pakistan since the 1990s, with the IMU being the main group which organises and directs these militants. Formed in 1998 by Tahir Yuldashev, the main focus of IMU has always been ousting the Uzbek President Islam Karimov and to install an Islamic regime there. Yuldashev oversaw the expansion of the IMU’s membership base from Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kyrgyz to many other nationalities, including Uyghurs, Turkmen, Turks, Afghans, Arabs, Chinese, Chechens, Germans, Norwegians, as well as Russians.
As far as the bond between the TTP and IMU is concerned, the two groups have a long history of collaboration, even before TTP’s launching by Commander Baitullah Mehsud. Tahir Yuldashev was the first one to have offered the services of his 2,500-plus fighters to Baitullah when he had decided to take up arms against the state of Pakistan. The TTP provided sanctuary for the IMU in exchange for its assistance resourcing the fight against Pakistani security forces.
This sanctuary, however, was short lived as successive military operations in South Waziristan in 2009 [which were backed by Maulvi Nazir] and the killings of Baitullah Mehsud and Tahir Yuldashev in American drone attacks in August 2009 forced the IMU out of the region.
The new IMU ameer decided to relocate his militants to North Waziristan where it, once again, found some new allies, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network. The new TTP ameer Hakimullah Mehsud adopted the same strategy by relocating his fighters to North Waziristan after Baitullah’s death. The TTP-IMU bond had strengthened under the command of new leaders of the two groups which are working in tandem with each other to target Pakistani security forces. A video posted online by the IMU in September 2010 had featured Yuldashev’s successor Abu Usman Adil meeting with Hakimullah Mehsud. Abu Adil was killed in a US drone strike in April 2012 and succeeded by his No. 2, Usman Ghazi. In a latest development, the IMU has moved from its Uzbek roots and rebranded itself under the Persian Dari name of the Tehrik-e-Islami-e-Uzbekistan. Despite having suffered some major losses in recent years, the IMU remains one of the most militarily capable and media savvy jehadi outfits operating in Waziristan region.
Both the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the TTP have claimed the attack on Jinnah International Airport, saying that it was a jointly coordinated operation, with the IMU releasing photos of the ten attackers. While the TTP had claimed that the attack was to avenge the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack in Waziristan, the IMU has maintained that the assault was in revenge for the recent PAF air strikes in North Waziristan.
The photos of ten attackers show that all of them are young men in early 20s which means they are from a generation that was born in Pakistan. Thousands of Islamic militants came to Pakistan from Central Asia during the Afghan jehad against the Soviet occupation forces.
These people continued to reside in Pakistan even after the end of the Afghan war and permanently settled in the Waziristan region. Most of them married local Pushtun women, and a new generation that is known as Pushtun-Arabs and Pushtun-Uzbek eventually came into being.
The TTP and IMU have long been working in tandem with each other and conducting joint terrorist attacks, especially targeting Pakistani security forces. However, the April 15, 2012 Bannu Jail operation was perhaps the only event filmed and marketed by IMU. The 25-minute Uzbek-language video, released on June 14, 2012, showed over 200 Taliban militants armed with guns, grenades and rockets, attacking the Bannu Central Jail of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and releasing 384 prisoners, including Adnan Rasheed, an ex-PAF officer who is the suspected mastermind of the Karachi airport attack. The video showed that the jail break operation was carried out jointly by the TTP and IMU. If the contents of the video are to be believed, the jailbreak was planned after Adnan Rashid wrote to the ameer of the Uzbek jehadis, Usman Ghazi, seeking help to get away from Bannu prison. The jailbreak plot was subsequently orchestrated with the support of the Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Adnan Rasheed was later made the chief operational commander of a lethal fidayeen unit (Ansarul Aseer) whose stated mission is to secure freedom for imprisoned jehadis by conducting jail break operations.
The formation of Ansarul Aseer was made public in a January 2013 video which featured not only Adnan, but also Yassin Chouka, one of the most wanted German commanders of the Waziristan-based IMU; and Abdul Hakeem, a Russian IMU member. Produced by Umar Media and Jundallah Studio, the media arms of the TTP and IMU, the video showed Adnan, Chouka and Hakeem seated under a tree and reading their respective statements. Adnan Rasheed was the first one to read a statement announcing the formation of the Ansarul Aseer, besides defining its mission and praising the TTP for managing his release. While addressing the jailed prisoners, Adnan had stated, “The first and foremost aim of the Ansar is to make possible your release by all means. The second aim is to take care of you in jail, provide for your families, fulfill your needs and necessities and arrange finances for your trials. The third purpose is to take revenge on the enemies.
You should send us the names and addresses of those serving the Police, ISI, Army as well as those jail wardens, officers and their aides and spies, plus the names of those who dared to harass your families and old parents and those who still treat you inhumanely. We, the militants, promise you that we will take revenge on them. We also warn the Pakistani security forces and the intelligence agencies against harassing the families of the jehadi prisoners”.
The next to speak on the videotape was the IMU leader Yassin Chouka who praised imprisoned jehadis and addressed the Muslim Ummah, “Look into your hearts and see whom you have dedicated your love to, whom you hate and whom you love. Let me give you a piece of advice: Force your unconcerned soul to love the Muslim captives around the world.”
Better known as Abu Ibrahim al Almani, Chouka is a German citizen from Morocco who, along with his brother Mounir Chouka, features frequently in IMU’s propaganda. The Chouka brothers, who were added to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in January 2012 for planning terrorist attacks worldwide, lead a group of 100-plus German jehadis who are well-settled in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.
A recruiting video of the North Waziristan-based German jehadis, which was produced by the IMU’s propaganda wing and posted on several jehadi websites in March 2012, showed how white men from the West are joining insurgents fighting in Pakistani tribal areas. The video showed many German-speaking gunmen, armed with AK-47s, light machine guns and mortars, taking on the Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan.
Since joining hands, the TTP and IMU have conducted some deadly fidayeen operations across Pakistan. Within weeks of Osama’s killing on May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad by the Americans SEALs, a group of TTP fidayeen attackers stormed the Mehran Naval base in Karachi [on May 22] and destroyed two Orion maritime surveillance aircrafts besides killing ten highly-trained Special Services Group (SSG) commandos. In a ferocious battle which lasted for 15 hours, the attackers lost four men who were later identified as Uzbeks.
Almost two months later, on August 16, 2012, terrorists once again went on rampage and targeted the Kamra Air base of the Pakistan Air Force. At least eight militants were killed in a counter operation that lasted over five hours, killing a PAF security official in the fire exchange. Most of the attackers were foreign nationals and described as Uzbek militants. The Kamra attack was claimed by the TTP.
The next attack was conducted on December 16, 2012 targeting the PAF Air base inside the Peshawar Airport which was almost a replay of the fidayeen attacks on military installations in Karachi and Kamra. And significantly, most of the five fidayeen attackers who were killed in the gun battle with the security forces inside the airport premises were identified as Uzbek nationals. The TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility, saying, “Our target was jet fighter planes and gunship helicopters of the PAF”.
In fact, the Uzbek militants have been active in Pakistan since the 1990s, with the IMU being the main group which organises and directs these militants. Formed in 1998 by Tahir Yuldashev, the main focus of IMU has always been ousting the Uzbek President Islam Karimov and to install an Islamic regime there. Yuldashev oversaw the expansion of the IMU’s membership base from Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kyrgyz to many other nationalities, including Uyghurs, Turkmen, Turks, Afghans, Arabs, Chinese, Chechens, Germans, Norwegians, as well as Russians.
As far as the bond between the TTP and IMU is concerned, the two groups have a long history of collaboration, even before TTP’s launching by Commander Baitullah Mehsud. Tahir Yuldashev was the first one to have offered the services of his 2,500-plus fighters to Baitullah when he had decided to take up arms against the state of Pakistan. The TTP provided sanctuary for the IMU in exchange for its assistance resourcing the fight against Pakistani security forces.
This sanctuary, however, was short lived as successive military operations in South Waziristan in 2009 [which were backed by Maulvi Nazir] and the killings of Baitullah Mehsud and Tahir Yuldashev in American drone attacks in August 2009 forced the IMU out of the region.
The new IMU ameer decided to relocate his militants to North Waziristan where it, once again, found some new allies, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network. The new TTP ameer Hakimullah Mehsud adopted the same strategy by relocating his fighters to North Waziristan after Baitullah’s death. The TTP-IMU bond had strengthened under the command of new leaders of the two groups which are working in tandem with each other to target Pakistani security forces. A video posted online by the IMU in September 2010 had featured Yuldashev’s successor Abu Usman Adil meeting with Hakimullah Mehsud. Abu Adil was killed in a US drone strike in April 2012 and succeeded by his No. 2, Usman Ghazi. In a latest development, the IMU has moved from its Uzbek roots and rebranded itself under the Persian Dari name of the Tehrik-e-Islami-e-Uzbekistan. Despite having suffered some major losses in recent years, the IMU remains one of the most militarily capable and media savvy jehadi outfits operating in Waziristan region.
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