Shadow of the IG over Central Asia
The transition to the side of the “Islamic state” of a high-ranking Tajik officer, the commander of the republican riot police, Colonel Gulmurod Halimov (in the photo) again drew attention to the problem of the spread of radical Islam in Central Asia. Meanwhile, the situation that has developed in the region lately makes it one of the most favorable for the spread of radical Muslim movements in the space of the former USSR.Gulmurod Halimov - Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, the commander of the special police unit. 14 was born on May 1975 in the Varzob region of the republic. From 1994 to 1996, he served in the presidential guard. After that he moved to the service in the republican riot police. Passed special training in the Russian and American special forces. He graduated from the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan (2000-2005). In 2008 - 2009 - deputy commander of the republican riot police for combat training. In 2013, he was promoted to colonel and was appointed commander of the riot police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan.
In the official biography of G. Khalimov, posted along with the text of the video message on the Internet, it is reported that he was responsible for organizing the protection of top officials of the state and was close to the family of President E. Rakhmon.
The situation around G. Halimov, from the very beginning, acquired the features of a detective story. In late April, the Tajik media reported that the commander of the republican riot police had disappeared. As the web resource avesta.tj reported, G. Khalimov did not appear at work, and his whereabouts were not known to anyone. Soon there were suggestions that he went to Turkey in order to join the units of the "Islamic state" in the Middle East, as he had recently often mentioned him in conversations. 1 June TASS, citing the "competent authorities" reported that the former commander of the Tajik riot police is indeed in the ranks of the supporters of the "Islamic state" in Syria, where he arrived in transit through Turkey in late April, along with two closest supporters. 27 May G. Halimov's video message with the duration of 12 minutes and 20 seconds appeared on the Internet, where he confirmed that he really joined the IG. The colonel spoke in Russian, which immediately suggests that his words are addressed not only to Tajiks, but to all Muslims living in the republics of the former USSR. The key point to shed light on this history, is the question of the motives that made G. Halimov go to the side of the IG. Despite the accusations of the Tajik authorities that he acted out of mercenary motives, the actions of G. Halimov are clearly motivated by his religious views. In a statement, he claims that he knows history well and has studied Islam. The attractiveness of the IG for him is primarily due to the fact that the Sharia and the norms of Islam, which were established by the Quran, are valid on its territory. In Tajikistan, these rules, in his opinion, do not apply. Moreover, the “president and ministers” are actively fighting the growing Islamization of society and, in particular, prohibit wearing hijabs and reading namaz on the street. That is, the modern Tajik state, in his opinion, actually has an anti-Islamic character.
In the video there is an appeal by G. Halimov to Tajik labor migrants - “brothers working in Russia”. “... Working in Russia, you became slaves of kafirs, and you should have become slaves of Allah ...,” he asserts. - What are you doing there? ... You work for kafirs ... You are chocks for them, nobody else. Say what is wrong? They owe you jizyu, not the other way around ... ” (Jizya is a poll petition from the Gentiles in the Muslim states, considered by jurists as a ransom for the preservation of life during conquest). The reasons for the current situation G. Khalimov sees that his compatriots "... moved away from Islam ... and became slaves of kuffar." To return to Islam, one should do Hijra (Arabic - “relocation”) and jihad.
Instead of working in Russia for the “infidels,” G. Khalimov proposes the Tajiks to join the “Islamic State” in order to take the path of jihad.
In the second part of the appeal, G. Khalimov repeats the call in the Tajik language to all Tajiks "to do Hijra and Jihad", joining the "Islamic State", where, according to the testimony of the former OMON fighter, there are "brothers from the Caucasus, Indonesia, America, Europe and Russia" . Moreover, from Russia in the IG, according to him, they are moving “with whole families”. The ultimate goal of this “hijra” is to build a caliphate, which should reach Tajikistan and reclaim “its lands”.
The incident with G. Khalimov raised many questions, which are much more than answers. What consequences will the information background that has developed around the transition to the side of the IG of a high-ranking officer of the Tajik Special Forces? What if G. Khalimov among Tajik and other Central Asian military is not the only one? If the head of the unit that provided security for the president, went over to the side of the IG, the same can be done by his subordinates, for whom the commander, logically, should have authority. And will these processes not lead to the fact that in the course of a more or less serious conflict, the local military will start to go over to the side of the IS?
The reasons for the attractiveness of the "Islamic state" in the eyes of a certain number of residents of the former USSR is dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in their homeland or in Russia, where they are forced to work. In the IS, they see an opportunity to build a truly fair society based on Sharia norms. “The main reason why people join the IG, in my opinion, is that they are disappointed with what is happening in their homeland,” Deirdre Tynan, project leader of the International Crisis Group in Central Asia, said in an interview with the BBC Russian service. “There is no significant way out for political or social ideas in Central Asia, and the Islamic State is a far more attractive and righteous option.” We add that internal democracy and egalitarianism, practiced against members of “their” Muslim community, seem to be a viable alternative to the social structure of the CIS countries, where everyone has long forgotten about social justice.
The fact that the transfer of G. Khalimov to the side of the "Islamic State" is not an ordinary event is confirmed by the comments from the United States. According to the State Department from 2003 to 20014. He went through five stages of training in the fight against terrorist groups both in Tajikistan and in the States. Moreover, the initiative of his training came from the Tajik authorities. According to G. Halimov himself in the USA, he was three times. A former US intelligence officer, Michael Brin, in an interview with CNN, quoted by the Tajik service of Radio Liberty, called the transfer of such a high-ranking officer of the Tajik security forces to the IG side unacceptable, since "Khalimov is well aware of how anti-terrorist operations are developed." In the opinion of Paul Sharre G. Khalimov, who works at the US Security Center, will not only train IG fighters for new fighting tactics, but also attract new members to the organization.
However, from the point of view of US interests, the situation with G. Khalimov looks far from unequivocal. The Americans are clearly playing a double game in the Middle East, on the one hand stating the need to combat IS, and on the other, secretly supporting him with money and weapons.
This, in particular, is testified by the photographs published on the Internet, in which the American Republican Senator John McCain was captured with the leaders of the Islamic State. In fact, the IG acts in the interests of Washington, fighting with its two main enemies in this region - Shiite Iran and Alawite Syria. The military-political problems that the IG is capable of creating on the southern periphery of the CIS fully fit into the framework of American interests. However, no action against Saudi Arabia - the main ally of the Americans, it does not take. It is noteworthy that an officer, who was actively prepared by the Americans, came over to the side of the IG. Even if it creates certain problems for them, IG reinforcement plays into the hands of the USA.
For Russia, the activities of the “Islamic State” to the south of its borders are causing growing concern. In December last year, the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, S. Lavrov, in an interview with Kommersant, noted that IG emissaries appear already in Afghanistan, which creates threats to the republics of Central Asia and Russia. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation estimates the number of its armed detachments in 70 thousand militants of various nationalities. How many of them are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is not precisely known. The maximum figure that appears in the media is up to 4 thousand people. In January of this year, one of the Tajik militants Nusrat Nazarov, known by the name Abu Kholid Kulobi, who are fighting on the side of the IG, said that about 2 thousands of Tajiks are currently fighting in Syria. It is possible that these figures are close to reality. 5 On June, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, Ramazon Rahimzoda, stated that 412 personalities of citizens of the republic, who are on the IG side, were identified. 71 of them have already died in battles. But the degree of awareness of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not clear, and the Tajik authorities are not interested in recognizing the popularity of IG among the population of the republic.
By itself, the number of immigrants from the former USSR who are fighting on the side of the “Islamic State” is still too small to create military-political problems for the republics of Central Asia. The hidden threat that the IG carries with it lies elsewhere. The gradual and, over time, the ever wider dissemination of his ideas may lead to an increase in the number of supporters of the “Islamic State”, and several thousand of its armed adherents will receive a social base in order to form an Islamic opposition to the secular regimes of Central Asia. Immediately start an armed struggle with them IG is not necessary. Enough to get a large number of supporters, especially in government and law enforcement agencies, after which power in certain circumstances may itself fall into their hands. The “deep” state created parallel to the “official” one day can replace it.
The time for addressing Tajik migrants in Russia G. Halimov was chosen more successfully. Due to a combination of a number of adverse factors, they are going through hard times. Since January 1, changes in immigration legislation have entered into force, obliging migrants from CIS countries who are not members of the EAEU to acquire a patent, for which it is necessary to pass exams in Russian, history and legislation of the Russian Federation. In addition, due to the sharp drop in the ruble exchange rate at the end of last year, the number of labor migrants and their incomes in the Russian Federation have noticeably decreased. And if the total number of residents of Central Asian countries working in Russia, compared with last year, decreased by 15%, the volume of remittances to Tajikistan for the four months of this year fell immediately by a third.
At the same time, about 1 million Tajiks still work in Russia. Their financial situation as a result of recent events has deteriorated markedly, which creates a favorable social basis for the growth of radical sentiment.
Judging by the development of the situation around the "Islamic state", in the near future it promises to be one of the main threats to both the external and internal security of Russia and the Asian republics of the former USSR in the southern direction. And the case with the transition to the side of this organization by a high-ranking employee of the Tajik security forces, perhaps, is far from the last.
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