This article needs to be updated.(November 2016) |
Imam Bukhari Jamaat | |
---|---|
Logo of the Imam Bukhari Battalion | |
Leaders | Salahadin al Uzbeki † [1] [2] |
Allegiance | Taliban (claimed by Imam Bukhari Jamaat since 2017) [3] |
Ideology |
Islamism Salafi Jihadism |
Part of |
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (2016) Army of Conquest [4] |
Allies |
Syrian Liberation Front
[5] Tahrir al-Sham |
Opponents |
Syria United States Islamic Republic of Afghanistan [3] Iran Russia Islamic State Syrian Democratic Forces [6] |
Battles and wars |
Syrian Civil War
|
Designated as a terrorist group by |
Iraq
[10] Kyrgyzstan [11] United States [12] |
The Imam Bukhari Jamaat ( Uzbek: Imom Buxoriy Katibasi, also Katibat Imam al Bukhari) is an Islamist Salafi group fighting in the Syrian Civil War and the War in Afghanistan, composed of primarily Uzbeks, and expressing loyalty to the Taliban movement. [1] The group originally operated only in Syria, where it is allied with other jihadist organisations such as al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham, and alongside these other groups it makes up the Army of Conquest, which overran much of Idlib province in north Syria in 2015. [4] Since late 2016, the group has also began to fight against Afghan National Security Forces, and has claimed to have set up training camps in northern Afghanistan. [3]
The group is named after Imam Bukhari, a 9th-century Islamic scholar who was from Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan. [13]
The group was led by an individual known as Sheikh Salahuddin, before his assassination in Idlib Governorate. [14] [15]
The Syrian and Afghan branches of KIB have sworn allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada of the Taliban in 2017. [3] The group was also suspected to have supported the Taliban during the Taliban offensive in 2021.
The assassination of Salahadin al Uzbeki was first reported by Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), al Qaeda's joint venture in Syria. HTS' Al Eba News Agency reported that "the infiltrator who assassinated Salahadin, the emir of Katibat al Bukhari, and his companions has been arrested in Ariha, Idlib today."
The video, which includes a speech by the Imam Bukhori Jamaat's leader, known only as Sheikh Salahuddin, sheds light onto the deep ties between some Uzbek militants in Syria and extremist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.