Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TASHKENT1473
2009-09-04 13:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tashkent
Cable title:
TASHKENT SHOOT-OUT ATTRIBUTED TO UZBEK EXTREMIST GROUP
how-toVZCZCXRO8926 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHNT #1473 2471323 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 041322Z SEP 09 FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RHMFIUU/CDR USTRANSCOM SCOTT AFB IL RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS TASHKENT 001473
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
DS/IP/SCA
DS/IP/ITA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER KCRM UZ
SUBJECT: TASHKENT SHOOT-OUT ATTRIBUTED TO UZBEK EXTREMIST GROUP
REF: TASHKENT 1469
UNCLAS TASHKENT 001473
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
DS/IP/SCA
DS/IP/ITA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER KCRM UZ
SUBJECT: TASHKENT SHOOT-OUT ATTRIBUTED TO UZBEK EXTREMIST GROUP
REF: TASHKENT 1469
1. (SBU) Summary: An official press release from the Uzbek
Attorney General's Office published September 4 reported that the
shoot-out which took place on Saturday (reftel) was part of a
special operation directed at a group of Islamic terrorists. The
armed men were believed to be members of an extremist group
responsible for a series of assassinations and attempted
assassinations.
EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES IN TASHKENT
--------------
2. (SBU) The first assassination attributed to this unidentified
extremist group was the fatal stabbing of the young deputy director
of a local madrassah on July 16 of this year. The victim was found
with more than two thousand US dollars in cash, car keys and credit
cards in his pocket, clearly ruling out robbery as a motive. On
July 31, the principal Imam of Tashkent survived multiple stab
wounds after being called out of his house by three assailants.
The Imam is a highly visible religious figure in Uzbekistan, and
known to be a sharp critic of followers of both Wahhabi Islam and
the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir. On August 9, Hasan Asadov, a
highly placed official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was
shot to death in his home. Asadov was a member of a GOU
interagency group dedicated to fighting terrorism.
3. (SBU) The press release also states that the extremists who
participated in the shoot-out had been trained in "foreign
terrorist centers," an allegation which was repeated by a highly
placed police contact. Three extremists were reportedly killed
during the shoot-out. An unknown number of suspected members of
the same group were arrested throughout Tashkent following the
shoot-out, according to a police contact. This contact also
claimed that surveillance records show that a Chechen terrorist
made telephone contact with the extremists shortly before the
shoot-out, and then subsequently committed suicide (a development
which has not been separately confirmed).
4. (SBU) Comment: If this event was, as seems increasingly
probable, associated with extremists, it is a reminder that
Uzbekistan remains a prime target for these groups in the region.
The GOU routinely expresses this concern as increased pressure in
Afghanistan and Pakistan leads some hardened terrorists to move
towards Central Asia, and as their profile on Afghan transit
(Northern Distribution Network) goes up. Although Uzbekistan and
Tashkent are by no means permissive environments due to the heavy
presence of the security forces, the GOU's control even of the
capital is clearly not air tight. Curiously, conspiracy theories
still circulate that the shoot-out was merely a "spectacle" staged
by the GOU to show that there is a threat and that the authorities
have it under control.
NORLAND
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
DS/IP/SCA
DS/IP/ITA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER KCRM UZ
SUBJECT: TASHKENT SHOOT-OUT ATTRIBUTED TO UZBEK EXTREMIST GROUP
REF: TASHKENT 1469
1. (SBU) Summary: An official press release from the Uzbek
Attorney General's Office published September 4 reported that the
shoot-out which took place on Saturday (reftel) was part of a
special operation directed at a group of Islamic terrorists. The
armed men were believed to be members of an extremist group
responsible for a series of assassinations and attempted
assassinations.
EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES IN TASHKENT
--------------
2. (SBU) The first assassination attributed to this unidentified
extremist group was the fatal stabbing of the young deputy director
of a local madrassah on July 16 of this year. The victim was found
with more than two thousand US dollars in cash, car keys and credit
cards in his pocket, clearly ruling out robbery as a motive. On
July 31, the principal Imam of Tashkent survived multiple stab
wounds after being called out of his house by three assailants.
The Imam is a highly visible religious figure in Uzbekistan, and
known to be a sharp critic of followers of both Wahhabi Islam and
the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir. On August 9, Hasan Asadov, a
highly placed official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was
shot to death in his home. Asadov was a member of a GOU
interagency group dedicated to fighting terrorism.
3. (SBU) The press release also states that the extremists who
participated in the shoot-out had been trained in "foreign
terrorist centers," an allegation which was repeated by a highly
placed police contact. Three extremists were reportedly killed
during the shoot-out. An unknown number of suspected members of
the same group were arrested throughout Tashkent following the
shoot-out, according to a police contact. This contact also
claimed that surveillance records show that a Chechen terrorist
made telephone contact with the extremists shortly before the
shoot-out, and then subsequently committed suicide (a development
which has not been separately confirmed).
4. (SBU) Comment: If this event was, as seems increasingly
probable, associated with extremists, it is a reminder that
Uzbekistan remains a prime target for these groups in the region.
The GOU routinely expresses this concern as increased pressure in
Afghanistan and Pakistan leads some hardened terrorists to move
towards Central Asia, and as their profile on Afghan transit
(Northern Distribution Network) goes up. Although Uzbekistan and
Tashkent are by no means permissive environments due to the heavy
presence of the security forces, the GOU's control even of the
capital is clearly not air tight. Curiously, conspiracy theories
still circulate that the shoot-out was merely a "spectacle" staged
by the GOU to show that there is a threat and that the authorities
have it under control.
NORLAND