Special operations forces for the International Security Assistance Forces and the Afghan Army carried out two more raids against the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in the north. Both raids, which took place over the past three days, occurred in Takhar province. The July 16 raid targeted a facilitator who aided suicide attacks in the north, while the July 17 raid targeted a leader who is linked to other IMU members based in Iran.
From the ISAF press release on the July 16 raid:
An Afghan-led combined security force detained two suspected insurgents while searching for an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan facilitator in Taloqan District, Takhar province, yesterday. The facilitator plans and coordinates suicide attacks, and recent reporting indicates he was planning imminent suicide bomb attacks in the area.
From the ISAF press release on the July 17 raid:
In Bangi district, Takhar province, an Afghan-led security force detained one suspected insurgent while searching for an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader, yesterday. The leader directs insurgents and acts as a liaison to the Taliban network, insurgent leaders in Pakistan, and IMU contacts in Afghanistan and Iran.
ISAF has previously killed or captured IMU commanders with links to operatives based in Iran [see LWJ report, Iran-backed senior IMU commander captured in Afghan north]. And an operative who works for both the Haqqani Network and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and aids “foreign fighters, including Iranians” to carry out attacks in the east was targeted in a special operations raid in the Orgun district in Paktika province in April [see LWJ report, Haqqani Network/IMU facilitator targeted in Afghan east].
Again, the IMU continues to be a top priority for Coalition and Afghan forces. Of the 14 raids against terror groups directly allied with al Qaeda (excluding the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and HIG) that have been reported by ISAF since the beginning of June, 13 targeted the IMU. Five of those raids took place in Kunduz, four in the neighboring province of Baghlan, two in Takhar, one in Balkh in the northwest, and one in Zabul in the southeast.
For more information on the IMU and recent raids, see LWJ report, Special operations forces capture burka-clad Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader in Afghan north.
