International intelligence agencies are raising alarms over an aggressive recruitment drive by Islamic State (IS) specifically targeting experienced jihadist men from Tajikistan and other Central Asian nations.
The effort, spearheaded by IS’s Afghan affiliate known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), aims to bolster the group’s ability to carry out attacks regionally and globally.
According to a recent United Nations report, over the past year ISKP has managed to attract high-profile militants from long-standing extremist groups like Tajikistan’s Jamaat Ansarullah. Leveraging propaganda channels on Telegram and social media platforms, IS has broadcast messaging tailored to radicalize Central Asians.
The report described ISKP as “the greatest threat within Afghanistan” despite territorial losses. It warned that the group has “the ability to project a threat into the region and beyond” through its “more inclusive recruitment strategy” bringing in disaffected Taliban fighters and foreigners.
Militants of Tajik origin have already been linked to a number of major IS-claimed attacks around the world in recent months. Friday’s assault on a Moscow concert hall that killed 137 people allegedly involved at least three Tajik nationals among the four captured attackers.
In January, Iran said the bomb-maker behind the twin suicide attacks at a commemoration ceremony that killed around 100 people was a Tajik militant affiliated with ISKP who had crossed the border from Afghanistan.
While ISKP’s focus has historically been its insurgency in Afghanistan, the turn towards international terrorist operations may stem from directives by IS’s central leadership as it has lost significant territory in Iraq and Syria in recent years.
As the group’s capabilities are increasingly dispersed globally through affiliates like ISKP, counterterrorism agencies are clearly taking heightened notice of Central Asia as an alarming recruiting ground for IS’s most battle-hardened foreign fighters being actively redirected to new fronts.
