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| Imam Bukhari Jamaat | |
|---|---|
| Uzbek: Imom Buxoriy Katibasi | |
 Logo of the Imam Bukhari Battalion  Flag of the Imam Bukhari Battalion | |
| Founder | Salahadin al-Uzbeki |
| Leaders | Salahadin al-Uzbeki † (2017)[1][2] Abu Yusuf al-Muhajir (2017-present) |
| Dates of operation | 2012[3]-present |
| Allegiance |  Afghan Taliban (claimed by the group since 2017, denied by the Taliban)[4] |
| Ideology | IslamismTurkestani-Nationalism[3] |
| Size | 500-1000 |
| Part of | Army of Conquest[6]Taliban (denied by the Taliban) |
| Allies | Taliban (denied by the Taliban) Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Syrian Liberation Front[7] Tahrir al-Sham Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria |
| Opponents |  Ba'athist Syria (until 2024) Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (until 2021)[4] Iran Russia United States Islamic State Syrian Democratic Forces (until 2025)[8] |
| Wars | theSyrian Civil War and theWar in Afghanistan (2001–2021) |
| Designated as a terrorist group by |  Iraq[9] Kyrgyzstan[10]United States[11] |
TheImam Bukhari Jamaat (Uzbek:Imom Buxoriy Katibasi, also Katibat Imam al Bukhari) is aJihadist group composed of primarilyUzbeks and formed inAfghanistan,[3] having fought in both theWar in Afghanistan andSyrian Civil War, as well expressing loyalty to theTaliban movement.[1] The group originally operated only in Syria, where it is allied with other jihadist organisations such asal-Nusra Front andAhrar ash-Sham, and alongside these other groups it makes up theArmy of Conquest, which overran much ofIdlib province in north Syria in 2015.[6] Since late 2016, the group has also began to fight againstAfghan National Security Forces, and has claimed to have set up training camps in northern Afghanistan.[4]
It is likely that some members of the Syrian branch, have become part of theSyrian transitional government's new84th Division.[15]
The group is named afterImam Bukhari, a 9th-century Islamic scholar who was fromBukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan.[16]
The group was led by an individual known as Sheikh Salahuddin, before his assassination inIdlib Governorate.[17][18]
KIB has been operating in Syria and Afghanistan since at least 2015. In Syria, the group supportedAl-Nusra Front and in Afghanistan the group supported theTaliban for their conquest to takeover Afghanistan. The origins of the group lie inIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
KIB swears allegiance to theTaliban leadership and has also played a prominent role in northwestern Syria fighting alongside al-Qaeda’s forces there. According toRFE/RL, the Syrian wing is led by a veteran of the jihad in Afghanistan who was sent to Syria by the Taliban and Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of the Taliban’s top deputies and leader of the powerful al Qaeda-linkedHaqqani network.
KIB took part in the al-Qaeda-led 2015 offensive that took over Idlib Province, as well as the al Qaeda-led offensive in the southern Aleppo countryside and renewed clashes in Latakia last year. It has also advertised its training camps in the country, including at least two for children.
In 2017, the group has claimed an ambush on Afghan troops in northern Afghanistan in a statement released through the terrorist group’s Telegram channel. According to the statement, KIB jihadists destroyed three Afghan humvees in improvised explosive device (IED) blast before opening fire on soldiers. Additionally, the group claimed to kill four Afghan troops. Pictures showing the explosions and subsequent ambush were released alongside the statement.[19]
The Syrian and Afghan branches of KIB have sworn allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada of theTaliban in 2017.[4] The group was also suspected to have supported the Taliban during theTaliban offensive in 2021.
Since 2016, KIB has sporadically released propaganda from its Afghanistan wing. That year, the group released two videos from the northern part of the country depicting training camps for both general indoctrination and lessons on the manufacturing of IED’s, along with combat footage.
The promotion of its Afghanistan activities that year correlates to when fighters from its Syrian wing began redeploying to Afghanistan, as confirmed by the United Nations.
Since then, other releases have focused on combat footage or captured weapons from Afghan forces. Smaller sporadic attacks, such as sniper operations, have also been claimed.
Since 2018, KIB has openly identified itself as part of the Afghan Taliban as it refers to itself as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – Katibat Imam al Bukhari,” a link to the official name used by the Taliban.[20]Further showing the group’s support to the Taliban, KIB’s Syrian wing congratulated the group for its “victory” inside Afghanistan following the announcement US withdrawal of Afghanistan in 2020.
In March 2018, the US State Department added KIB to its list of specially designated global terrorist organizations. State’s designation notes KIB’s close ties to various al-Qaeda groups inside Syria. It played a prominent role in the takeover of Idlib in 2015.
Much like KIB’s Afghanistan wing, its Syrian branch also swears allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada and the Afghan Taliban. All of these allegations have been denied by the Afghan Taliban.
Following thefall of the Assad regime, the formation of theSyrian transitional government, and the integration offoreign jihadist fighters into the84th Division, it is likely that members of Imam Bukhari Jamaat were also incorporated into the division, according to theFDD's Long War Journal.[15]
The assassination of Salahadin al Uzbeki was first reported by Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), al Qaeda's joint venture in Syria. HTS' Al Eba News Agency reported that "the infiltrator who assassinated Salahadin, the emir of Katibat al Bukhari, and his companions has been arrested in Ariha, Idlib today."
The video, which includes a speech by the Imam Bukhori Jamaat's leader, known only as Sheikh Salahuddin, sheds light onto the deep ties between some Uzbek militants in Syria and extremist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
