In July 2022, reports emerged of a “new” militant outfit in northern Afghanistan. A Taliban-affiliated group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Tajikistan (TTT) is reportedly in charge of the security of five districts in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province. 

Also known as the Tajik Taliban, the group is reportedly led by Muhammad Sharifov, also known as aka Mahdi Arsalan, a citizen of Tajikistan.  TTT’s roots are traced back to the al-Qaida-affiliated Jamaat Ansarullah, which was established by Tajik nationals a decade ago with the goal of overthrowing the secular government in Dushanbe.  Some experts note that the TTT comprises many second-generation fighters of Jamaat Ansarullah.  Muhammad Sharifov is reportedly the son and brother of JA veterans.

Muhammad Sharifov, 27, was born in the village of Sherbegiyon in Tajikistan’s eastern Rasht Valley.  He reportedly joined Jamaat Ansarullah in 2014.

Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as the Society of Allah’s Soldiers, Ansarullah was founded in 2010 by Amriddin Tabarov, who had been a field commander for anti-government Islamist forces during Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war.  Tabarov, also known as Mullah Amriddin, was killed by Afghan government forces in 2015.

Initially, Ansarullah’s members were former Tajik opposition fighters who refused to accept a 1997 peace agreement between the government in Dushanbe and the Islamist-led opposition.

The so-called new generation -- children and relatives of the initial members and supporters -- have since joined the group.

Since its creation, Ansarullah has had links with other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.

Tajikistan’s Supreme Court officially banned Jamaat Ansarullah as extremist in May 2012 on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office.

Some sources say at least 200 militants from Tajikistan are currently based along the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. 

Tajik Islamists reportedly fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. In July 2021, as the Taliban advanced towards Kabul, it handed over the security of the districts of Kuf Ab, Khwahan, Maimay, Nusay, and Shekay in Afghanistan’s northern province of Badakhshan to Arsalan and his militants.  Some experts note that Arsalon was given control of the districts by Qari Fasihuddin, an ethnic Tajik Taliban commander who served as the shadow governor of Badakhshan at the time. Fasihuddin has since been appointed to serve as the Taliban’s chief of army staff.

The Taliban regime provided the Arsalan-led Tajik Islamist militants with sophisticated American weapons, communication equipment, vehicles and combat gear.  The TTT reportedly played an important role in the Taliban’s elimination of ANDSF soldiers fleeing to Tajikistan.

Dr. Sudha Ramachandran, an independent researcher and journalist based in India, notes that the TTT is not a “new armed actor” in the Afghan-Tajik border areas.  Its so-called “emergence” in July last marked the renaming/rebranding of fighters who were already active in the region. However, its role in the region has evolved over the years.

Incidentally, the Taliban regime has denied the existence of the TTT, which means that the TTT remains a non-state actor but one that enjoys the protection of and proximity to the Taliban regime.  Dr. Sudha Ramachandran notes that while its existence in the shadows allows the Taliban regime to deny responsibility for its actions, the TTT has a free hand to act as it pleases,.

According to her, the TTT could emerge as a potent weapon in the Taliban regime’s hands to pressure Tajikistan’s government.