Paul
Goble
Staunton, October 19 – With the
destruction of the territorial base of the Islamic State, many have wondered
how its followers will metasticize into new terrorist groups. One such
organization, reportedly including several thousand fighters, has now arisen in
the border regions between Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, on the one hand, and
Afghanistan, on the other.
Moscow Mufti Albir Krganov, the head
of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) of Russia, told Sputnik Tajikistan, a
Moscow-controlled outlet there, earlier this week that this group known as
Khorasan may in fact be a successor to ISIS and may threaten not only Central
Asia directly but Russia via migrants as well (regnum.ru/news/2335112.html).
The Muslim leader
said that he and Moscow were interested in doing everything they can to block
the rise of this group before it can become fully formed and operational, but
Krganov complained that Tajik Muslim leaders had so far shown little or no
inclination to cooperate with their Russian co-religionists in such an
effort.
Krganov’s statement about the new
group cannot be independently confirmed, and in the murky world of such
terrorist groups, Khorasan may simply represent the renaming of other pre-existing
organizations. But the timing and venue of his announcement suggest that many
in Moscow don’t think that is the case.
Thus, yet another Islamist radical
organization has likely emerged and bears close watching.
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