– TOHIR YULDASHEV

* Tohir Yuldashev was born on 10/02/1967 in Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan. After the crumbling of the Soviet Union and the founding of the Central Asian republics he organized in 1991 the “Justice” movement. The group, distinguishable by green armbands, beat criminals and people considered sinful such as prostitutes and beggars with sticks and hoses.  In 1995 Tohir  Yuldashev was already known as a prominent Islamic leader in Fergana Valley.

In 1998 Tohir  Yuldashev, with Juma Namangani , founded the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan -IMU. On 10/12/2001 Tohir  Yuldashev was designated by UN as a terrorist and his assets were frozen.

In 1999 a series of explosions in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent were orchestrated in an unsuccessful attempt on Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov’s life. Islam Karimov placed the blame on radical Wahhabism and the IMU in particular. Following the attempt Tohir  Yuldashev was sentenced in summer 2000 by an Uzbek court to death in absentia for facilitating the attack.  

In 2002 Tohir  Yuldashev formed with remnants of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan – IMU a new group of his own – the Islamic Jihad Union -IJU.

USA intelligence sources said that during Operation Anaconda in 03/2004, the largest USA operation in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda after operation Absolute Justice, Tohir  Yuldashev led a group of foreign fighters from Central Asia who fought alongside the Taliban.  

In early 2007 a video message from Tohir  Yuldashev was distributed throughout the Uzbek areas in Central Asia in which, among other things, he said “today our primary goal is to emancipate Iraq and Afghanistan from the American occupation”.

In 10/2007 USA army in Afghanistan offered a reward of $200,000 for information leading to the capture of a dozen Islamic insurgent leaders including Tohir  Yuldashev. He was reportedly killed a week later by an American air strike. This information was never confirmed. 

According to USA intelligence sources Tohir  Yuldashev was killed in South Waziristan, FATA North West region of Pakistan, by a UAV missile strike, in late 08/2009. He died from his wounds few days after the attack. He was replaces by Usmon Odil. 

 

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