The
number of Central Asia foreign fighters climbed in 2013, and those
who return may boost the destabilization of regimes after their
Syrian experience1.
In March 2013, Jaysh al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar, dominated by Chechens
and North Caucasians, have already announced the presence of Central
Asia fighters into its ranks. Two months later, a Tajik newspaper
confirms that the citizens of this country have gone through training
camps in Syria. In June, this is a website that confirms that Uzbek
Tajiks gained Syria and recruiters also would draw on seasonal
workers who leave Russia. A year earlier, in 2012, a report in TheGuardian mentioned a Turkish smuggler working with jhadists,
who claimed to see many Uzbeks cross the northern border of Syria.The
same month of June 2013, Kazakhstan arrests 8 its citizens seeking to
raise funds to finance a trip to Syria. In July, a Kazakh nicknamed
Abu Muadh al-Muhajir called his countrymen from Damascus, via video,
to engage in jihad. In October, a video shows more than 50 jihadists
and their families in Syria, alongside ISIS2.
A Kazakh also recognizes his little son in a video of ISIS in October
2013 ; he would be radicalized after leaving to the Middle East with
his wives and children to find work3.
The Kyrgyzstan for its part recognizes that twenty people are
probably gone to fight in Syria, and also mentions hold others
arrested at airports. From 2011, citizens of Uzbek origin in the
south go to wage jihad against Bashar al-Assad. 6 young men are
recruited by Russian and Salafists, they are repatriated to Moscow
and then ship towards Turkey4.
The Uzbekistan Islamic Movement would also have sent fighters to
Syria. One of its members says even prefer to fight Shiites and
Syrian Alawites that Sunni Pakistani soldiers alongside the Taliban
of South-Waziristan5.
Recruited by al-Nosra, he lost a leg because of an artillery shell in
July 2013. There are also Chinese citizens. At least three other
fighters joined al-Nosra ; Salafist recruiting network Uzbek attract
volunteers from the province of Hatay, Turkey. In March 2013, a Han
converted to Islam, Yusuf al-Sini (Bo Wang), appears in a video of
Jaysh al- Muhajirin wal-Ansar. Another video from al-Nosra seems to
stage a Uighur, called the "Chinese jihadist".
Islamic Party of Turkistan, based in Pakistan and run by Uighurs,
have sent fighters to Syria. Moreover, it has long been known that
many thousands of Central Asian fighters are involved in Afghanistan,
including members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, on the
northern borders of the country, in the provinces of Kunduz and
Takhar.
 |
| Extrait d'une vidéo de l'Union du Djihad Islamique.-Source : http://gdb.rferl.org/6BDBE608-12EC-4663-B6B7-7564D7AA57EE_mw1024_n_s.jpg |
It
seems that the volunteers of Central Asia, due to difficulties in
adapting to the Syrian context, have aroused deep resentment among
the people of the north, where they are involved in the majority.
That is why the Syrian fighters sometimes encouraged them to return
home to pursue jiha . China in July 2013 reported the arrest of a
Uighur student who studied in Istanbul and then fought in Aleppo and
have prepared attacks in Xinjiang. 15 people behind an attack against
a police station and its surroundings in Turpang, in June were denied
departure for Syria and would have led a local operation. On 12
September, at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan announced that the dismantled a cell of the
Islamic Jihad Union (a derivative of the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan, especially active in Afghanistan and Pakistan
organization) that would target the summit. This cell, in Osh in the
Fergana Valley, was composed of veterans of the war in Syria. It also
included an attack on the anniversary of the country's independence
on August 31 and would have had, at least, a Kazakh6.
 |
| Des combattants d'Asie Centrale à Alep, en 2013.-Source : http://www.transatlanticacademy.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/large/East%20Asian%20Fighters%20in%20Aleppo,%20Syria.jpg |
On
19 February 2014, a new cell was dismantled in Osh in southern
Kyrgyzstan. These activists financed their activities with funds from
Syria and committing robberies. They hoped to recruit 150 people. Ten
days earlier, Kirgizh authorities had confirmed that five people had
died in Syria and 50 others fought with ISIS. There are also women
and children who are going to this land of jihad. Nargiza
Kadyraliyeva abandons her husband and leaves with her three children
in early 2013. There are multiple motivations for Kyrgyzs : escape
unemployment and poverty by finding a "refuge" in
Syria, the taste for adventure, support a cause deemed righteous, and
conversion to jihad by radical Islamists. The Kyrgyzstan, however,
unlike other neighboring countries in Central Asia, has not known
jihadism on its soil, probably because of reforms initiated since
2005 and because Muslims are free to practice their religion, in a
rather moderate trend. Yet the country cannot escape the regional
geopolitical implications. The U.S. war in Afghanistan has forced the
Central Asian militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to seek
refuge in Pakistan's tribal areas. But these Kyrgyzes activists can
not return to their countries to export jihad. Syria is more
favorable because ISIS control an entire sector of the country, and
part of Iraq. The Kyrgyzes can train, raise funds and recruit them
back, especially since it is much easier for them to return to
Kyrgyzstan. The first signs of activity of Syrian veterans appear in
the Ferghana Valley in the second half of 2013. Hostility between
Kirgizes and Uzbeks in the country sometimes leads them to join
radical movements such as Hizb ut- ahrir, which serves of springboard
of recruitment for jihad in Syria. These movements also provide
social assistance to families in difficult social situations -like
those whose husband is a seasonal worker in Russia- and target
marginalized groups or poor rural communities7.
1Jacob
Zenn, « Increasing Numbers of Central Asian Jihadists in
Syria », The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, 2 octobre 2013.
2Jacob
Zenn, « Afghan and Syrian Links to Central Asian Jihadism »,
Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 193, The Jamestown
Foundation, 29 octobre 2013.
6Jacob
Zenn, « Afghan and Syrian Links to Central Asian Jihadism »,
Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 193, The Jamestown
Foundation, 29 octobre 2013.
7Jacob
Zenn, « Kyrgyzstan Increasingly Vulnerable to Militant
Islamism », CACI Analyst, 5 mars 2014.