SUMMARY
Islam Karimov became the President of Uzbekistan when the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Karimov suppressed the political opposition and consolidated personal dictatorship. IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) in 1999-2000 and JIG (Jihad Islamic Group) in 2004 unsuccessfully attempted to topple Karimov with the aim of installing Islamic rule in the country. As a consequence, the government resumed the violent campaign aimed against political and Muslim opposition.
IN DEPTH
Background to Islamic resistance in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan was conquered by the Russians in the 19th century and became part of the Soviet Union in 1924 when the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. When Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, new president Islam Karimov became the countrys dictator. In December 1991, a few unemployed Muslims took over a Communist Party headquarters in Uzbekistan after having been refused land on which to build a mosque. This became the start of the dispute between Islamic extremists and the post- USSR Uzbek state. IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) was officially formed in 1998 by Tahir Yuldashev and Juma Namangani, but the group was originally created in the beginning of the 1990s when Yuldashev and Namangani formed its predecessor; an Islamic movement called Adolat. Adolat had strong support in the Fergana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan, the home of both Yuldashev and Namangani. In 1992 Adolat was declared illegal and the leaders fled to the neighboring country of Tajikistan to join the opposition in the Tajik armed conflict.
1999-2000: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan engages in armed conflict
When the armed conflict in Tajikistan ended in 1997, Islamic leaders Yuldashev and Namangani (see Background to Islamic resistance in Uzbekistan) moved on to Afghanistan and joined the Taleban movement there. In 1998 they formed IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) and in February 1999 they initiated the Uzbek conflict when they carried out an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the countrys President, Islam Karimov. The group was largely unknown until 19 March 1999 when it issued a statement that called on Uzbek President Karimov to resign together with the rest of the government or be removed by force. During August 2000 the conflict intensified with clashes occurring mainly in the Ferghana Valley in the border area between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The two year long conflict in Uzbekistan was fought as much in the neighboring countries as in Uzbekistan itself. IMU had bases in Tajikistan, and several clashes took place between IMU and the Kyrgyz army on Kyrgyz territory. In October 2000, IMU retreated to its bases in Afghanistan and started fighting alongside the Taleban movement again.
The IMU was made up of militant Islamic extremists mostly from Uzbekistan, but included other Central Asian nationalities and ethnic groups as well. Except for the goal of ousting President Karimov, the IMU also aimed at introducing the Islamic Sharia law in the area. It has been suspected, but not confirmed, that the group was funded by Osama bin Laden and Saudi officials. Its main tactic was small-scale armed attacks, including car-bombings and hostage-takings. There were no negotiations or third party mediation between the parties.
During the conflict in Uzbekistan, IMU maintained its bases in Afghanistan, which Yuldashev and Namangani had established before IMU was created in 1998. However, when the U.S and its allies started fighting the Taleban in 2001, IMU was largely decimated, and the remnants of the group fled to Pakistan, where it have been involved in the non-state category of organised violence. For more information on IMU in Pakistan see IMU - Lashkhar of Wazir tribe under Non-state conflict, Pakistan.
2004: The Jihad Islamic Group resumes the fight
In March 2004, violence again flared in Uzbekistan when a new group, JIG (Jihad Islamic Group) or “Jamoat”, launched a series of attacks in the capital Tashkent. The group was formed by veterans from IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) who had returned to Uzbekistan in 2003 to topple the Uzbek government. As in earlier attempts to overthrow the government in Uzbekistan, the rebels’ goal was to install Islamic rule in the country. As a consequence of the attacks in Tashkent, the government resumed an armed campaign aimed against political and Muslim opposition. Planning and training for JIGs attacks took place in southern Kazakhstan and the Kazak security services claimed to be working together with Uzbek forces in the investigation of the renewed armed conflict in Uzbekistan. By September 2004, at least 135 members of JIG had been convicted to prison sentences and the conflict did not reach the threshold of 25 battle-related deaths in 2005.
