Is Central Asia Ready to Face ISIS?

Author:
Uran Botobekov

The military and technical capacities of the Islamic State have been weakened by series of defeats on the battlefield. As a result, some fighters who fought on the side of the so-called Caliphate have begun to return clandestinely to Central Asia. Following the liberation of Fallujah and Manbij in Iraq and Aleppo in Syria, the number of extremists returning to their home countries is increasing. With the return of these now-veterans fighters, the threat of terrorist attacks has increased, causing deep concerns among the ruling regimes in Central Asia.

On June 17, the National Security Committee (GKNB) of the Kyrgyz Republic reported that three people who had fought in Syria and returned were detained in the Batken region. The GKNB said they’d returned with an intention to create an underground ISIS cell to carry out a series of attacks. According to Stalbek Rakhmanov, the head of Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 500 citizens of Kyrgyzstan are fighting in Iraq and Syria, and more than 30 have been killed in combat. Moreover, 28 criminal cases have been instituted concerning 44 returned fighters. The potential for returned fighters to commit terrorist acts in Kyrgyzstan is becoming a real concern for officials in Bishkek.

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