Islamic Radicalism In Central Asia

The Middle East has exploded with the so-called Arab Spring and the resurgence of Jihadi parties especially the Muslim Brotherhood. This explosion has diverted attention from Central Asia which is slowly and methodically becoming the hot bed of Jihadi activity especially concerning Hizb ut-Tahrir. What happens in Central Asia will have tremendous consequences for Europe and America.

“Islamic Radicalism has become a serious problem in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Though these areas are bastions of moderate and traditional Islam and among the most secularized areas of the Muslim world, radicalism has made a forceful comeback in the past two decades. Beginning in the late 1980s, alien Islamic proselytizing has gathered speed across the Muslim regions of the former Soviet Union, and has resulted in the spread of radical
ideologies, militancy, and even terrorism. Worst hit have been the Russian North Caucasus and some parts of Central Asia, especially the Ferghana
valley shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.”

PDF: Islamic Radicalism In Central Asia

Fergana Valley Rep Inaccurate

Fergana Valley’s Violent Reputation ‘Inaccurate’ – Analysts

By John Feffer

WASHINGTON, Mar 29 (IPS) – The Fergana Valley in the centre of Central Asia has a reputation for instability, violent conflict, and Islamic fundamentalism. The three countries whose borders intersect in this densely populated mountainous region – Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan – have struggled to build modern states in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This process has indeed been tumultuous.

A civil war broke out between rival political factions in Tajikistan in the 1990s. The ‘Tulip Revolution’ of 2006 ousted the authoritarian leader of Kyrgyzstan. Later in 2006, the Uzbek authorities broke up anti-government demonstrations in the Fergana Valley city of Andijan, killing hundreds.

Meanwhile, all three governments have taken actions against Islamic fundamentalist groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. More recently, there have been reports of a new group of “black turbans” organising in the Uzbek city of Kokand.

But this picture of the Fergana Valley as violent and prone to Islamic fundamentalism is inaccurate, according to S Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

“There is a tendency to catastrophise, to see the region as a series of unsolvable problems, but that’s not true,” Starr said at a seminar this week in Washington DC on the Fergana Valley co-sponsored with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. “The region has not been a tinderbox. There have been incidents in all three sectors. The ones before 1991 tended to be ethnically based. But amazingly, the borders have remained the same. And for all the complications that independence has brought, the ethnic clashes have been relatively limited.”

Three factors have had a moderating influence. “Migrant labour is a safety valve,” Starr argues. “The soil is good – it’s spectacular agricultural land if it’s irrigated – so that even without cash to buy lots of things, people can eat. And these folks know one another. They’ve lived with one another for hundreds and thousands of years.”

Pulat Shozimov also sees a very different Fergana Valley. A leading Tajik scholar, Shozimov is one of the three editors of a new multi-disciplinary research project sponsored by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute that brings together 24 scholars from all three countries to produce essays on eight different socio-economic topics. Shozimov portrays this research project as “a model, a free space for open discussion about key questions and problems in order to discovery new possibilities for the Fergana Valley”.

The study “will be the most comprehensive three-dimensional portrait of this crucial region that has been produced in the last half-century,” Starr says. “What are our three editors have achieved, one from each country, is to create a positive climate for real region-wide collaboration.”

The Fergana Valley is overwhelmingly Muslim, and most believers are Sunni. A common element in the region, since the fall of the secular Soviet regime, has been a surge in religious interest.

“There has definitely been an Islamic revival,” observes Eric McGlintchey, a professor of government and politics at George Mason University. “It’s very apparent simply looking at the number of people going to Friday prayers and the dress people are adopting. After 50 years or more of being told they couldn’t practise their religion, they can now practice religion openly. So, there’s a natural curiosity.”

Some outside analysts have focused on the threat of religious radicalism in the Fergana Valley. But McGlintchey believes that radical Islam has limited appeal. “The Hizb-ut-Tahrir operates fairly openly in Kyrgyzstan, less so in Uzbekistan,” McGlintchey reports. “They know the literature, the talking points, but when you press them a little bit on Islam or broader ummah, things begin to fall apart fairly quickly. Most people don’t waste their religion on Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Their status is overstated.”

A more important but less analysed trend has been the linkage between Islam and economic modernisation.

According to Pulat Shozimov, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IPRT) has reached out to an emerging middle class. “At present they don’t have a clear economic program,” he says, “but I think they are trying to build their own economic network”. Here, Shozimov says, the IPRT is looking to Turkey’s ruling party as a model for how to combine Islamic values with both democratic structures and a modern, globally connected economy.

McGlinchey agrees: “It took a Muslim party to come to power to move Turkey in a democratic direction. You may be seeing a similar dynamic in Tajikistan.”

Meanwhile, in Uzbekistan, McGlinchey notes a similar dynamic. “There is a virtuous cycle that connects Islamic social capital and economic growth,” he contends. “In Andijan, businessmen have gotten together who trusted one another and recognised each other as devout – in contrast to the state authorities who are very often corrupt and extract resources and are difficult to trust. These businessmen pooled capital within the group and were able to grow different businesses. Other people see these prominent Muslim businessmen, see their success, and say, ‘I want to work in their factories and learn about the religion.”

The Fergana Valley is thus attempting to leave behind its image as a sporadically violent and unstable region that plays host to radical Islamic groups. New cooperative initiatives as well as new economic and political models of modernising Islam are emerging. The rather frosty official relations among the three countries may do little to encourage these new dynamics, but they are nonetheless being challenged from below.

“In spite of the obvious tensions among the three countries,” Starr observes, “the three peoples know each other very well, have been interacting closely for centuries, and understand how to maintain practical relations even in the face of tensions”. (END/IPSAP/JF/JS/08)

2008 Asia-America Issues

Source: http://www.ipsnewsasia.net/bridgesfromasia/node/127

Restraining Islamization

TAJIKISTAN SEEKS TO RESTRAIN ISLAMIZATION

By Suhrob Majidov (02/16/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

During a meeting of Tajikistan’s Security Council on February 10, 2011, President Emomali Rahmon expressed concern about “the growth of religious-extremist feelings in the society”. According to the President, these “feelings” threaten national security and stability in Tajikistan.

As a result of the Security Council meeting, Emomali Rahmon instructed the State Committee on National Security, the Committee on Religious Affairs and other responsible state bodies “to strengthen explanatory work” among the population in order to curb the development of radical islamization. The President claimed that the rise of illegal religious-extremist groups in different parts of Tajikistan is supported by “their foreign patrons” and aim to overthrow the constitutional order in Tajikistan in a violent manner.

According to the President, there are two key issues which need to be resolved. The first issue relates to the operation of mosques. Emomali Rahmon believes that most of these operate illegally and that “the number of mosques exceeds the number of schools”. Another issue of concern to the President is that many students from Tajikistan study in illegal religious educational institutions in different Islamic countries. Thus, Emomali Rahmon urges relevant state bodies to make an effort to return these students to Tajikistan.

The relevant state and law-making bodies have taken previous initiatives to curb islamization by introducing several restrictive measures. The first was the introduction of new amendments to the Administrative Code. These amendments toughen the punishment for “illegal distribution” of religious literature. The authorities state that illegal religious literature comes to Tajikistan from Pakistan, Egypt and Iran. According to the regulations, the distribution of any religious literature is prohibited without special permission from the State Committee on Religious Affairs. The authorities believe that new regulations will help control the distribution of religious literature in Tajikistan.

The second step was a regulation of the operation of mosques. According to different sources, more than ten large mosques have already been closed in Dushanbe. According to a statement made by the State Committee on Religious Affairs, these mosques were closed since they have been operating illegally and were not registered with relevant state bodies. The imams of the closed mosques were warned that if they continue their sermons they will be considered criminally liable.

However, the closure of mosques stirred widespread discontent among religious leaders and ordinary believers. Imams of closed mosques assert that they have been operating for 30-40 years without any complaints from the authorities. Moreover, all the mosques were constructed by the means of hashar, i.e. the mosques was constructed for money donated by the believers themselves. Besides, the imams of closed mosques claim that they have been trying to officially register the mosques several times but relevant authorities refused to register them without offering any explanation.

The Committee on Religious Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan decided to go further in controlling the operation of mosques, teaching the imams how to deliver a sermon “in a correct way”. The head of the Committee Abdurahim Kholikov organized a meeting with the eight most well-known imams in the country. During the meeting, the Committee discussed the content of their sermons with the imams and pointed out “that most of them violate basic ethic principles and some contradict the law”. According to Kholikov, the imams took all the remarks into consideration and proposed the Committee to organize special training courses on legislative issues for imams.

Furthermore, the Committee on Religious Affairs announced that a special manual for imams will soon be published. The manual will be called “52 Friday sermons” and will be oriented at all heads of mosques: imams, khatibs and imam-khatibs. The manual will contain 52 themes for Friday sermons, one for each week of the year. According to the Committee, all the themes were determined by the special commission which was composed of theologists, relevant scientists and officials. The Committee expects that imams will not “digress” from the proposed themes.

Finally, the Minister of Education of Tajikistan Abdujabbor Rakhmonov signed a decree which prohibits teaching the discipline “Theory of Islam” in schools and ordered to remove this discipline from the school curriculum. This discipline was introduced to school curricula just recently, in September 2010. Instead of the “Theory of Islam” subject, the Ministry decided to increase the number of hours for the “History of the Tajik Nation” subject. As one representative of the Ministry declared “the history of Islam is tightly linked with the history of the Tajik nation”, therefore, it is enough to study the history of Tajik nation.

Tajik authorities have thus started a wide-ranging campaign on curbing radical islamization in the country. However, many experts agree that this campaign may result in active confrontation between the authorities and religious leaders supported by ordinary believers. Moreover, some experts assert that such efforts from the Government to curb islamization could worsen the situation further, inducing ordinary believers to take the side of radical extremists.

Source: http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5499

Central Asia Ready to Explode

Radicalism casts shadow on Central Asia

By Maria Golovnina
February 10, 2010

 ALMATY Central Asia is a ticking bomb waiting to go off.

Long ignored as a myth whipped up by the authorities to justify political repression, a surge in radical Islam in the former Soviet region has become a reality for the West fighting an increasingly tough war in next-door Afghanistan.

Analysts say long-defunct groups like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) are regaining force in the impoverished region where ethnic tensions have long simmered under the surface.

“They (militants) are preparing the ground for a long, sustained military campaign in Central Asia,” said Ahmed Rashid, a leading Pakistan-based expert on Afghanistan and Central Asia.

“There is now a real threat because the Islamist surge is combined with an economic and political crisis.”

A vast region wedged between China, Iran, Afghanistan and Russia, Central Asia found itself on the frontline of global affairs last year when it agreed to host a vital new supply route for Nato forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Gripped by deepening gloom about economic stagnation and poverty, the mainly Muslim but secular region has become increasingly susceptible to extremist ideas in past years.

Security analysts say militants, who had long left Central Asia to fight alongside the Taliban, are seeping back into the region to take advantage of its fragile state.

A growing sense of frustration with the lack of basic freedoms has given political undertones to the rise of Islamism in a region which still has no influential opposition parties even after two decades of independence from Soviet rule.

The trend is particularly alarming because of recent parallels with the situation in Yemen, where growing instability has led to fears it may become Al Qaeda`s next hunting ground.

Acknowledging these risks, Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged for more engagement with Central Asia.

“If Afghanistan becomes a safe haven for terrorists they could easily spread through Central Asia to Russia,” he said last weekend. “Of course Afghanistan is not an island. There is no solution just within its borders.”

Infiltration

First alarm bells rang in Central Asia last year when Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz troops fought gangs they described as terrorist – around the time when the security situation in northern Afghanistan deteriorated sharply.“It does not matter who exactly was behind those attacks. It still means instability, that something`s going on,” said one Western diplomat. “It is certainly something we are watching.”

Who are these militants and why are they coming back?

“The reason is that they (have), first of all, done enough fighting for other people. They now want to fight for their own country ,” said Rashid, the Central Asia analyst.

“The real threat now is the fact that they are trying to infiltrate back into Central Asia…They are trying to infiltrate weapons, ammunition and men back into Central Asia.”

The IMU is shrouded in secrecy and its size is unclear. Its goal is to topple Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who has tolerated no opposition during his two decade long rule.

Another target is Tajik leader Imomali Rakhmon who led pro-Russian forces against Islamists in a civil war in the 1990s. In the West, both are accused of mass rights violations.

The Internet abounds with video clips, some as recent as this month, by groups such as the Islamic Jihad Union, believed to have been founded by breakaway IMU fighters.

One Uzbek-language video, posted on YouTube, shows a desert training facility where dozens of children in black Taliban-style turbans, clutching AK-47s, learn how to shoot.

“Oh children of mujahideen! You are the future warriors of Allah!” says the narrator. Complete with Russian subtitles, it clearly targets the Russian speaking audience of Central Asia.

Anything from the death of long-serving leaders to natural disasters can prompt fighters into action, analysts say.

“We should be looking at potential triggers,” said Rashid.

“The death of Karimov or Rakhmon, or a power struggle in either of these countries, a major natural disaster, growing hunger or an economic collapse. These could prove the trigger for social unrest which the IMU would take advantage of.”

Poverty

Hizb ut-Tahrir is another group accused of terror activities in Central Asia. It says it has tens of thousands of members in the region but stresses its methods are entirely peaceful.

“It is the Central Asian regimes that continue terrorising their people,” said Taji Mustafa, its representative in London.

“Since the declaration of the West`s so-called `war on terror`,

Central Asian governments have used it as a convenient umbrella to pursue, arrest and torture their political opponents.”

Central Asia-watchers believe home-grown fundamentalism has been on the rise for some years, spurred by the latest economic crisis which has left millions of migrant workers without jobs.

Official data for the entire region is not available but in Tajikistan, the poorest ex-Soviet republic, economic growth more than halved in 2009 to 3.4 per cent from 7.9 per cent in 2008.

In Kyrgyzstan, another potentially volatile nation, economic growth fell to 2.3 per cent last year from 8.4 per cent in 2008.

“The financial crisis and the return of labour migrants sparked predictions of unrest, intensifying the concern that radical Islamists had been making inroads into the labour diaspora,” the International Crisis Group said in a report.

“Insecurity is growing, in part domestically generated, in part because of proximity to Afghanistan; infrastructure is collapsing, weak economies are slipping still further.”—Reuters

Source: http://archives.dawn.com/archives/3805

Hizb Arrests Worry Tajik Authorities

ARREST OF ALLEGED TWO HIZB UT-TAHRIR ACTIVISTS NEAR DUSHANBE WORRIES TAJIK AUTHORITIES

September 3, 2010

Tajik authorities are concerned that the arrest of two alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir activists in Yavan, a town 30 kilometers south of Dushanbe, indicates that the radical Muslim organization’s influence is moving southward, RIA-Novosti reported on 9 September. The two detainees, a Tajik man and a woman who is an Uzbek citizen, were reportedly distributing Hizb ut-Tahrir leaflets that call for the overthrow of the Tajik government. An unidentified law enforcement official noted that previously Hizb ut-Tahrir activists have been arrested in Dushanbe, Khujand, and areas bordering Uzbekistan. According to the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office, more than 30 Hizb ut-Tahrir activists have been arrested in Tajikistan this year. BB

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1142998.html

Pursuing 2 Mullo Abdullo Followers

Tajiks pursue 2 Mullo Abdullo followers

Staff Report
2011-04-20

DUSHANBE – Tajik authorities are pursuing two followers of slain insurgent commander Mullo Abdullo who escaped an April 14-16 government raid in eastern Tajikistan, AsiaPlus.tj reported April 20.

The government determined the pair concealed themselves as their comrades were killed in an April 15 battle with security forces, Deputy Interior Minister Saidzhon Dzhurakhonov said, adding that troops are searching for them in Rasht.

Government forces captured a third Abdullo supporter, Samsolik resident Mirkhudzhi Sharipov, in the east April 18. While being captured Sharipov resisted, killing a National Guardsman, Dzhurakhonov said.

Russian Militant Arrested

Russian militant suspect arrested in Kyrgyzstan

Staff Report
2011-04-20

BISHKEK – Kyrgyz authorities have arrested an Uzbek-born Russian suspected of militant attacks, 24.kg reported April 19. They captured him in Belovskoye village, Chui Oblast, April 18.

Russia has pursued the unnamed suspect, 38, since 2008 in connection with the slayings of several policemen in the Russian North Caucasus.

Police captured him with phony Kyrgyz passports, 24.kg reported.

Uzbek Youth Taught to Distinguish Islam from Extremism

Uzbek youth are taught to distinguish Islam from extremism

Ubaidullo Babadjanov
For Central Asia on the Internet
2011-04-06

Uzbek police officer is suspected terrorists in the courtroom in Tashkent in June 2006. Uzbek officials say that authorities should not only arrest the suspects, but also explain the difference between Islam and extremism. [REUTERS / MF / FMS]

Fergana – Mullahs and the administrative authorities of Fergana region decided to conduct an information campaign explaining the difference between traditional Islam and extremism.

Visitor mosque Vusal Firudunov of Kuvasz on vulgar week visited a sermon.

“I learned a lot – he said. – Mulla told that Allah will never endorse violence, … and the murder of one man is equal to the death of civilization. … I discovered many new things for myself. Decided to carefully re-read the Koran. “

Executive secretary of the municipal administration of Fergana Odile Beybolotov said that the need for anti-terroresticheskoy programs talked about in February.

“Ferghana region has long been not unknown problems with extremism – he said. – We occasionally get reports of youth involved in extremism from the mosques, schools and law enforcement officials, but active measures against it has not yet been taken.”

Young people need to educate yet not too late

According Beybolotova, some arrests suspected extremists can not do.

“We have become increasingly raise these issues at meetings of the area – he said. – After all, why young people fall into the hands of terrorists? Through ignorance, for lack of information.”

“In some mosques, the mullahs have already touched on these issues in their sermons, and according to them, people such topics are very interesting” – he said.

Mullah Margilan Mosque Side Ahmad Hosein Cory said that no television, no schools, nor in mosques not to talk about extremism.

“And if this and say it is very generalized and vaguely – he said. – Youth nobody tried to explain the difference between traditional Islam and terrorism, where truth and falsehood.”

Therefore, according to Beybolotova, at the last meeting of March it was decided that from now on in schools, local TV stations, mosques will be talking about the dangers of terrorism and differences with traditional Islam.

“In some mosques, the mullahs have already touched on these issues in their sermons, and according to them, people such topics are very interesting” – he said. “In some mosques, the mullahs have already touched on these issues in their sermons, and according to them, people such topics are very interesting – he said. – In addition to lecture on extremism and Islam will be conducted in schools and houses of culture . For the population is also planned to publish information brochures. “

Head teacher Matanat Oripova school № 2 in Rishton said that such extra-curricular lectures will lead teachers to all comers.

“These lectures are best to history teachers, as they can give examples from world history – she said. – Teachers tell me that students, given ongoing events in the region, frequently asked questions … Now for all of these issues will be allocated time. “

Sermons may inform listeners

Hossein Cory said that initiative is the area came in very handy.

“Everyone knows that the extremists under the guise of believers sometimes enter the mosque, there to start conversations with young people and push them the wrong way – he said. – I am delighted that we now have, the mullahs, there is an opportunity to discuss these important topics. “

Beybolotov believes that it is particularly important to start such an initiative “in the spring, when experts in the media are discussing a possible intensification of terrorists because of the snow from the mountain trails.

Hotira Jalilova inspector nursery Kokand police said he hoped the success of the program.

“Several times I had to communicate with teenagers drawn into extremism. Basically, they spread leaflets or broadcast drug – she said. – Frequently, these guys do not know with whom they talk, because adolescence – the most difficult … But what do we, law enforcement agencies can do? It should operate educational facilities and mosques, and pleased that such work has begun. “

Shutting Down Religious Bookstores

Uzbeks Shut Religious Bookstores

Friday, 01 April 2011 21:30

RFE/RL

TASHKENT — Uzbek security services have closed down bookstores specializing in religious literature in Tashkent, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Twenty bookstores in the Kitoblar dunyosi (World of Books) book trading center have been raided by Uzbek National Security Service (NSS) agents, police, tax officers, and representatives of the government Committee for Religious Affairs in the past week and closed.

Kitoblar dunyosi was the only place allowed to sell books on religion, primarily on Islam and mainly published in Uzbekistan.

A source close to the bookstores’ owners who saw one of the raids told RFE/RL that officials were searching for specific Islamic books that were no longer published in Uzbekistan. He said that storeowners believe the exercise was directed against the sale of all kinds of religious literature.

Photos sent to RFE/RL show the door to one of the stores, Flinta Books, taped shut with a paper seal bearing the signatures of an Interior Ministry officer, an NSS officer, and the store’s director.

There has been no official comment on the raids.

The U.S. State Department’s 2010 report on religious freedom says that in Uzbekistan possession of literature by authors deemed to be extremists, or of any literature illegally imported or produced, may lead to arrest and prosecution.

The government categorically prohibits leaflets on the banned group Hizb ut-Tahrir and literature on Nur, a Turkish Muslim group deemed extremist.

The Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA), a government agency accountable to the Cabinet of Ministers, must approve all religious literature.

According to RFE/RL’s source, bookstore owners were selling only books approved by the state.

Local human rights activists say authorities have intensified their already tight grip on religion in the wake of the recent antigovernment uprisings in the Middle East.

Employees in various sectors have reported they have come under pressure not to perform the five daily Muslim prayers, including Friday Prayers, during working hours. Women working in offices and markets have complained they are being told by employers not to wear the hijab, or Islamic head scarf.

At the same time, the government is continuing its crackdown on what it calls radical groups willing to overthrow the constitutional order.

Human rights groups have criticized the authorities, saying many people have been labeled “extremists” and jailed for peacefully practicing their religion.

The government is also getting tougher on activities such as proselytizing and importing and disseminating religious literature.

Officials have confirmed around 15,000 Bibles have been confiscated in the past year.

On March 13, Uzbek police raided a Sunday worship service led by Baptists in a retirement home in Tashkent.

According to the Forum 18 News Service, police claimed they were on a counterterrorism operation and are preparing a criminal and administrative case against the Baptists.

US Black Ops In Central Asia

US Special Forces’ Black Ops in Central Asia Keeping Islamic Militants in Check

Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:10

EurasiaNet

by Deirdre Tynan

US Special Operations Forces have permission to enter Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on a “case-by-case” basis when conducting counter-terrorism operations, US Central Command has confirmed.

Other sources tell EurasiaNet.org that US Special Forces occasionally cross borders in “hot pursuit” of armed militant groups on the run from Afghanistan. US Special Forces do not maintain a permanent presence in any Central Asian country, but they have the ability to carry out extended missions in the region, a US military source said.

“Periodically we will have military-to-military cooperative events with our Central Asian partners. Any entry into these countries of US Special Forces would be with the permission of the host nation and conducted on a case-by-case basis,” said LTC Michael T. Lawhorn, Chief of Media Relations at US Central Command.

Last September, US Special Forces provided crucial tactical support in helping Tajik government troops repel an attempted Islamic militant incursion, a well-placed source told Eurasianet.org. “It’s hardly classified information, the Tajiks didn’t do it alone,” the source said. The skirmish left 20 militants and one Tajik government soldier dead. The militants had reportedly crossed the Pyanj River into Tajikistan from Kunduz Province, after being forced to flee Afghanistan due to a security sweep carried out by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The framework for US Special Forces’ operations throughout Central Asia was established under an August 2009 directive issued by US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). As part of an “adjustment in regional orientation,” Special Forces’ 3rd Group was realigned to focus on Central Asia. A spokesman for SOCOM confirmed that as of February 1, 2010, 3rd Group would “be prepared to conduct foreign internal defense and security forces assistance to assist partner nations improve their ability to provide for their own security in Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.”

The arrival of 3rd Group in Afghanistan a year ago coincided with an upsurge of US-led coalition activity against Islamic militants in northern Afghan provinces. In May, 2010, for example, US Special Forces and the Afghan National Army troops killed 30 Taliban militants in an operation 10-kilometers north of the provincial capital Kunduz. US Special Forces also provide training to local police.

Funding for all such activities is provided for in the US defense budget. Adm. Eric Olson, the commander of US Special Forces [USSOF] has stated that authority for special operations in Central Asia is covered under Section 1208 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2005. “This authority enables USSOF to train and equip indigenous forces, both regular and irregular, and to enable them to support ongoing counterterrorism operations,” Olson said in a 2010 statement.

“Indigenous forces – while serving a leading role and supported by USSOF – provide essential access to locations, populations, and information otherwise inaccessible,” Olsen continued. “Support to indigenous forces through Section 1208 reprioritization of funding has resulted in many successful counterterrorist operations.”

The 2011 US defense budget increased Section 1208 funding from $40 million to $45 million, as well as expanded the range of “logistic support, supplies, and services” the US may provide to “allied governments.” SOCOM’s overall budget for 2011 increased 5.7 percent over the previous year’s level, reaching $6.3 billion. The increase reflects “the priority to focus on irregular warfare and to strengthen core special operations capabilities,” according to the US Department of Defense.