Syria's new rulers have reportedly given high-ranking military positions to several foreign Islamist fighters, a move that has alarmed their home governments, which fear the potential export of unrest to their own soil.
Thus, a 41-year-old Saifiddin Tojiboyev, a native of Tajikistan’s Spitamen district, was appointed as a new operations commander in the defense ministry of the new Syrian government.
An article by Abakhon Sultonnazarov, IWPR regional Director for Central Asia, notes that Tojiboyev was one of the commanders of the militant wing of Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a group allied with the ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement. Most of the group’s fighters are reportedly from Central Asian countries.
The article notes that following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, questions remain over the future of these foreign fighters, with fears that they could pose a significant future security threat to their own countries.
There is little verified data on the number of Central Asian citizens who are currently in various military formations in Syria, the article says, noting that media reports have focused on citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, although there are also fighters from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan among the insurgents.
In November 2018, the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan reported that about 1,900 Tajik citizens had travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight in Islamist organizations in recent years. Tojiboyev was among them.
Tojiboyev, who traveled to Syria with his brother in 2013, is wanted in Tajikistan, accused of taking part in a foreign conflict, being a member of terrorist organizations, and recruiting fighters for terrorist groups. His name also appears in the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT)’s list of sanctioned individuals prohibited from carrying out financial activities.
Most Tajik nationals who travelled to the region joined the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Following the defeat of IS, some Central Asia militants relocated to Afghanistan, where they joined the Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K), an IS affiliate operating in Afghanistan.
In a 2019 UN report presented to the Security Council, another native of Tajikistan, Sayvali Shafiyev, was named as the leader of IS-K.
The report stated that the group, which operates in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, had more than 200 fighters. According to UN experts, Shafiyev was also recruiting new fighters for the IS-K and fundraising online.
Another influential Tajik national, Shamil Hukumatov, was also one of the leaders of the IS-K. In June 2023, he was arrested in Istanbul, where he was raising money and recruiting new fighters for IS-K.
The author notes that Central Asians have also been involved in a number of international terror attacks in recent years.
He articled notes that regarding Central Asians in Syria, there are several possible scenarios, each with its own risks.
One is that the Damascus authorities, under pressure from the international community and in order to preserve internal stability, will decide to expel foreign fighters. There are already voices in Syria demanding this.
Most foreign fighters are unlikely to abandon the idea of jihad, and will probably relocate to other conflict zones, as happened following the defeat of IS. For Central Asian militants, the most probable destination is Afghanistan, where ideologically aligned IS factions are already active. However, other destinations such as Mali, cannot be ruled out.
There are also widespread concerns in Central Asia that citizens who fought in foreign wars might return and attempt to cause serious unrest, although there have been no public announcements as to policy. In recent years, Central Asian governments have returned hundreds of fighters and their family members from Iraq and Syria, attempting to reintegrate them.
The situation is exacerbated by diminishing economic opportunities at home accompanied by worsening conditions for Central Asian migrants in Russia. This group has long been a key recruitment pool for radical Islamist groups; Dushanbe claims most Tajiks who fought abroad were recruited from the ranks of labor migrants.
It is also crucial not to overlook the presence of sleeper cells of radical Islamic group supporters in Central Asia, who actively recruit new members and orchestrate terrorist attacks both within the region and in Russia.
The new authorities in Syria had made clear that had no ambitions of pursuing global jihad, but the appointment of foreign citizens connected to various radical organizations in their home countries could signal different intentions.
If supporters of a global caliphate gain significant power in Syria, a return to the days when IS sought to spread its ideology worldwide through terrorist acts might be possible, the article says.
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