Insurgency in Gorno-Badakhshan (2010–2015)

Last updated
Insurgency in Gorno-Badakhshan
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan.svg
Gorno-Badakhshan (shaded), Tajikistan
Date19 September 2010 – 1 September 2015
(4 years, 11 months, 1 week and 6 days)
Location
Status

Tajik military victory

  • Surrender of opposition forces with their leader Tolib Ayombekov in August 2012
Belligerents

Flag of Tajikistan.svg Tajik Government

Flag of Jihad.svg United Tajik Opposition



Commanders and leaders
Flag of the President of Tajikistan.svg Emomali Rahmon
Flag of Tajikistan.svg Colonel-General Sherali Mirzo
Flag of Tajikistan.svg Major-General Zarif Bobokalonov

Tolib Ayombekov   White flag icon.svg
Alovuddin Davlatov  
Abdullo Rakhimov  
Mirzokhudzha Akhmadov
Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov

Contents


Abduhalim Nazarzoda  
Strength
10,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
69–84 killed (2010)
20 killed (2012)
55+ killed
191–206 killed (2010–15)

The insurgency in the Gorno-Badakhshan region in Tajikistan from 2010 to 2015 was an armed conflict between the Tajik Army and Islamist militants, led by numerous leaders from the Tajikistani Civil War. The conflict evolved in 2010 and climaxed in 2012, with the defeat of main rebel forces. Other incidents took place in September 2015, when former deputy defense minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda led an armed uprising, suspected of ties to the Islamic Renaissance Party.

Insurgency

2010 Rasht Valley offensive

On 19 September, more than 25 Tajik soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected Islamist fighters, allied with the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan. The soldiers were part of a 75-man convoy moving through the Rasht Valley, in eastern Tajikistan. They were ambushed while searching for members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who previously escaped from a detention prison in Dushanbe on 25 August. The military column was ambushed by gunmen around midday local time, while passing through the mountainous Rasht Valley, approximately 250 km (150 miles) east of the capital. The column sustained heavy fire from machine-guns and grenade launchers, in the mountains from above. Initial reports indicated that 40 soldiers were killed but the Tajik minister of defense denied this. Five Tajik officers were among the dead. None of the attackers were reported to have been killed or wounded. [1] [2]

On 4 October, five Tajik soldiers along with two insurgents were killed during a military operation in Rasht Valley. The incident occurred when a vehicle was stopped at a military checkpoint on the road between Garm and Dushanbe. As the soldiers approached the car, gunmen opened fire killing five of them and wounding three more. The soldiers retaliated opening fire at the vehicle, killing the two attackers. Among the dead was a high-ranked Tajik officer. Meanwhile, dozens of caches of heavy weapons including grenade launchers, as well as food and medication, were discovered in an abandoned Islamist hideout. Twelve military checkpoints were set on the roads leading from the administered region of Rasht to the capital Dushanbe. [3] [4]

On 7 October, 28 servicemen from the Presidential National Guard were killed when their helicopter crashed during an operation in Rasht Valley near the towns of Ezgand and Tavildara. The helicopter became caught in power lines and crashed while attempting to land, leaving no survivors. The helicopter was bringing service men from the capital Dushanbe to the Rasht Valley to take part in the operation.

The same day, 6 other soldiers were killed in a separate incident caused by an accidental mine explosion. [5]

On 18 October, three suspected insurgents were killed by Tajik soldiers on the outskirts of Garm, located near the Afghan border during a military operation. [6]

On 1 December, gunmen shot and killed 3 Tajik soldiers in the village of Dulona-Maidon in the Buljuvon Region, 150 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe. [7]

On 27 December, 2 Tajik soldiers were killed when a group of thirty Islamists tried to enter Tajikistan from the Afghan border. After three hours of fighting, a combat helicopter arrived, opening fire on the intruders forcing them to retreat into Afghanistan. Local residents said that three Tajik soldiers were killed with two being the victims of friendly-fire from the helicopter. The Tajik military however claims no one was killed by friendly fire. Several Islamists were also killed in the attack. [8]

2011

On 4 January, Tajik authorities claimed Alovuddin Davlatov was killed along with seven other insurgents when Tajik security forces launched a special joint operation on his hideout in the town of Runob. [9]

On 14 April, Mullah Abdullah a key opposition commander, along with ten other Islamists were killed by Tajik soldiers during a search operation for militants in the village of Samsolid, 135 kilometers east of Dushanbe. [10]

2012

On 21 July, the head of the Tajik Intelligence agency was assassinated by insurgents in the city of Ishkashim. The Tajik government then launched a joint military operation on 25 July in the city of Khorog with the aim of capturing Tolib Ayombekov, who was said to be behind the 21 July killing and the 19 September ambush. More than 800 Tajik soldiers and several combat helicopters took part in the operation that lasted one day until Tajik president Emomali Rahmon halted all immediate operations in the area on the 25th. At the end of the day, more than 20 Tajik soldiers were killed and countless numbers were wounded. It's unknown the exact number of militants and civilians killed but military sources claimed more than 30 insurgents along with 30 civilians were killed. The operation was considered to be a success with Ayombekov and his army surrendering themselves to Tajik authorities in August.

2015

In 2015, massive clashes with rebels suspected of ties to the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan resulted in 47 deaths. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tajikistan</span> Landlocked country in Central Asia

Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital and most populous city. Tajikistan is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. It is separated from Pakistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor. It has a population of approximately 10.6 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Forces of Tajikistan</span> Combined military forces of the republic of Tajikistan

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan, also known as the Tajik National Army is the national military of the Republic of Tajikistan. It consists of Ground Forces, Mobile Forces, and the Air Force, with closely affiliated forces including the national guard, border and internal troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan</span> 1998–2015 Islamist militant group in Asia.

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 by Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani; both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley. Its original objective was to overthrow President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and create an Islamic state under Sharia; however, in subsequent years, it reinvented itself as an ally of Al-Qaeda. The group also maintained relations with Afghan Taliban in 1990s. However, later on, relations between the Afghan Taliban and the IMU started declining.

Gharm is a city and jamoat in the Rasht Valley area of central Tajikistan. The population of the town is 9,800.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taliban insurgency</span> Islamist Insurgency during the War in Afghanistan

The Taliban insurgency began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The private sector in Pakistan extends financial aid to the Taliban, contributing to their financial sustenance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian 201st Military Base</span> Motor rifle division of the Russian military

The Russian 201st Military Base is a Russian military base based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, part of the Central Military District. It was originally raised twice in World War II as part of the Soviet Union's Red Army and is now part of the Russian Ground Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Mountain Fury</span> Military operation in Afghanistan

Operation Mountain Fury was a NATO-led operation begun on September 16, 2006 as a follow-up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban insurgents from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Another focus of the operation was to enable reconstruction projects such as schools, health-care facilities, and courthouses to take place in the targeted provinces.

Terrorism in Tajikistan stems largely from the forces of the political opposition who opposed the comprehensive peace agreement that ended the civil war in 1997. President Emomali Rahmonov and UTO leader Said Abdullah Nuri signed the agreement on 27 June, believing it would bring an end to hostilities. However, dissident Islamist militants led by Tohir Yo‘ldosh and Juma Namangani formed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in 1998, allying with Al-Qaeda and vowing to unite Central Asia as an Islamic state. The latest terror attacks took place in the Qabodiyon District on November 6, 2019, when a policeman and a border guard were killed by several Islamic State militants. 15 terrorists were also killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)</span> Sunni Islamic insurgency in the Maghreb

An Islamist insurgency is taking place in the Maghreb region of North Africa, followed on from the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002. The Algerian militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) allied itself with al-Qaeda to eventually become al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algerian and other Maghreb governments fighting the militants have worked with the United States and the United Kingdom since 2007, when Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara began.

Events from the year 2008 in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation al-Shabah</span> Military operation

Operation al-Shabah was launched in May 2013 by the Iraqi Army, with the stated aim of severing contact between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra Front in Syria by clearing militants from the border area with Syria and Jordan.

Navobod is a town and jamoat in Tajikistan. It is located in Rasht District, one of the Districts of Republican Subordination. The population of the town is 5,500.

Khumdon is a village and jamoat in central Tajikistan. It is located in Nurobod District, one of the Districts of Republican Subordination.

The North Lebanon clashes were a conflict that occurred in October 2014, between the Lebanese Army and Islamist militants in the area of North Lebanon, being also part of the Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon.

The 2016 Nampala attack was an armed assault against a Malian Army base in the Niono Cercle subdivision of the Ségou Region of Mali on 19 July 2016, that left at least 17 government soldiers dead and 35 others injured. The Katiba Macina, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the ethnic Fula militant group National Alliance for the Protection of Fulani Identity and the Restoration of Justice (ANSIPRJ) claimed joint responsibility.

Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.

Navdonak is a village in the jamoat Kalai Surkh in the Rasht District in central Tajikistan. Navdonak is east of Dushanbe in the Vakhsh valley and has a Köppen climate classification of Dsa and experiences wet and cold winters with dry cool summers. The village is close to the town of Gharm.

The Battle of Sabzak was an engagement between Spanish and Italian forces of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Taliban insurgents supported by militant Tajik tribals. The action took place from 3 to 4 September 2009 on Sabzak pass, in the province of Badghis, during the War in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jihadist insurgency in Niger</span> Civil conflict in Niger

Since 2015, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has been a hotbed for jihadist forces originating from Mali. The insurgency has taken place in two distinct regions of Niger. In southwest, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Nusrat al-Islam have carried out attacks in the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile, in the southeast, the Islamic State in the West African Province has established control in parts of southern Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist insurgency in the Sahel</span> Insurgency throughout the Sahel and West Africa

An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.

References

  1. "BBC News - Tajikistan says restive east is under control". Bbc.co.uk. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  2. "Tajikistan Blames Islamist Militants For Attack That Killed 25 Soldiers". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Rferl.org. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  3. "Worries Grow As Tajik Government Continues Operation Against Militants". Rferl.org. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  4. http://www.news.huanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/04/c_13542447.htm [ dead link ]
  5. "Philippines investigating chopper tender". Archived from the original on 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  6. "Tajikistan Says Kills Three Suspected Islamist Militants". Rferl.org. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  7. "Tajik Forces Search For Armed Militants After Deaths". Rferl.org. 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  8. "Tajik Guards Killed In Fight On Afghan Border". Rferl.org. 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  9. "Video Allegedly Shows Tajik Fighter Who Officials Say Was Killed". Rferl.org. 2011-02-03. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  10. "Tajikistan Claims Militant Leader Killed". Rferl.org. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  11. "Four more militants killed in Tajikistan violence | GlobalPost". Archived from the original on 2015-09-30.
  12. "Sayfa Bulunamadı - Turkey and World News".