Kyrgyzstan plunges into Islamic State frenzy

From the Taliban to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Hizb-ut-Tahrir, it is the Islamic State that is now seen as the bigger threat in Kyrgyzstan.

Verifiable facts are hard to come by when it comes to the IS as a potential threat in Central Asia. According to a report by EurasiaNet.org, however, the number of IS fighters from Central Asia is thought to be growing. And anger with the region’s governments would seem to provide fertile soil for radicalism to flourish. That is prompting speculation about what will happen when battle-hardened fighters return home radicalised by the most vicious jihad movement in modern times.

The current IS scare in Kyrgyzstan was reportedly triggered by comments made by Kadyr Malikov, a prominent religious-affairs analyst in Bishkek.

In an op-ed published by AKIpress last summer, Malikov warned that IS was targeting Central Asia and the region should “brace for upheaval.” On October 23, Malikov was quoted by the Interfax News Agency as saying: “Today, by various estimates, about 4,000 young people, men and women, from the Central Asian countries are already under the black banners of the IS, and the danger is growing of them spreading the IS ideology and being actively involved in radical attempts to install a caliphate once they are back in their home countries”.

 Contacted by EurasiaNet.org, Malikov said he was misquoted, that he spoke of 2,000 Central Asian fighters, a number he says he gleaned from “Western experts” and his “sources in the Middle East”.

 “But I admit that establishing the exact number of [Central Asian] fighters is almost impossible.

 I think that what’s more important are not exact figures but the dynamic of growth: several months ago, there were no Kyrgyzstan fighters in Syria, but now the numbers are steadily increasing,” he told EurasiaNet.org on November 3.

Source: neurope.eu