Prospect of Biological and Nuclear Terrorism in Central Asia and Russia. Musa Khan Jalalzai
from the Pacific Fleet in the Far East. The plan called for seven Slavic-looking Chechens to seize a submarine from the naval base near Vladivostok, attach explosive devices to the nuclear reactor section and to one of the nuclear-tipped missiles on board, and then demand withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. After the plot was discovered, Russian authorities disparaged it, and yet it is ominous to note that the former chief of staff of the Chechen rebel army, Islam Khasukhanov, had once served as second-in-command of a Pacific Fleet nuclear submarine”.8
The Islamic State (ISIS) and Central Asian terrorist groups seek biological and nuclear weapons to use it against security forces in Russia and Central Asia. The modus operandi of ISIS or ISIS inspired individual is diverse and shows no moral restraints– as recent attacks in Brussels and Berlin demonstrate. The use of biological and chemical weapons by terrorists has prompted huge fatalities in Iraq and Syria. However, preventing dangerous materials from falling into the hands of ISIS, Pakistani terrorist groups, and Central Asia extremists is a complex challenge. Since 2013, there has been extensive use of chemical weapons in armed conflicts in Syria by US backed terrorist groups. The most deadly attacks were carried out with chemical agents by the ISIS terrorist group in Syria that needed significant knowledge and the specialized resources. In October 2017, Columb Strack in his paper revealed that the ISIS is the first terrorist group that developed chemical weapons:
“The Islamic State is the first non-state actor to have developed a banned chemical warfare agent and combined it with a projectile delivery system. However, it appears to have been forced to abandon its chemical weapons production after the loss of Mosul in June 2017. The absence of chemical attacks outside of Mosul after the city became cut-off from the rest of the ‘caliphate’ earlier this year indicates that the group has not established alternative production facilities. But U.S. intelligence believes that a new chemical weapons cell has been set up in the Euphrates River Valley. In late July 2015, the Islamic State fired several mortar bombs at Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) positions near the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria. A statement released by the YPG after the attack described how the explosions had released “a yellow gas with a strong smell of onions,” and that “the ground immediately around the impact sites was stained with an olive-green liquid that turned to a golden yellow after exposure to sunshine”.9
The possible use of nuclear and biological weapons by the ISIS, Central Asia extremist groups, Chechens, Taliban and Pakistani sectarian terrorists in Central Asia and Russia would be a greater security challenge for the region and Russia that fights the ISIS in Syria. Pakistan has established its own extremist networks in Chechnya and Central Asia once more to lead the US fight against Russia in the region. The country’s army has been training and financing the ISIS, Chinese extremist groups and Mujahideen from Central Asia in various districts since 2001. Connor Dilleen (Asia Times-30 May 2019) in his recent article noted activities of Central Asia terrorists groups in Afghanistan:
“During a recent visit to Tajikistan, Russian Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov claimed that around 5,000 militants based in Afghanistan from a group known as Islamic State Khorasan, or IS-K, had been redeployed to the north of the country, near its border with the former Soviet states of Central Asia. Bortnikov’s statement has been treated with some scepticism, with Moscow accused of exaggerating the threat posed by IS-K to advance its own objectives in the region. But his comments make it timely to revisit the question of whether IS may emerge as a genuine threat not just to Afghanistan but also to the broader Central Asian region. To date, the states of Central Asia—Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan—have been relatively free of terrorist incidents involving Islamist groups. Between 2008 and mid-2018, 19 attacks categorised as terrorism occurred across the region, resulting in around 140 fatalities. Most of these attacks targeted law enforcement agencies, and regional governments have claimed that they disrupted another 61 attacks during 2016 alone. IS was involved in several of these events. In July 2018, a group claiming allegiance to IS killed four foreign tourists outside of the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, and in November, Tajik authorities claimed that they had detained 12 suspects with alleged ties to IS who were planning an attack against a Russian military base and school”.10
However, the return of these groups from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria will cause national security challenges. In Sialkot District of Punjab province Pakistan, the army train and support an ISIS women brigade for future war against Russia and China. Dr. Younis Khshi in his research paper has noted activities of these women in Pakistan where many women have impressed and convinced through brainwashing with the concept of Jihad-Bil-Nikah, got divorce from their Pakistani husbands and went to marry a Mujahid of ISIS for a certain period, came back gave birth to the child of Mujahid, and remarried their former husband. Some decide to continue that marriage for the rest of their lives. All of this is being done to obtain worldly wealth and later eternal life in Heaven because ISIS is paying something around RS/50,000 to 60,000 per month to every warrior.
However, Mr. Uran Botobekov (The Diplomat, January 10, 2017) has also reported the presence of Central Asian women in Syria and Iraq: “Based on 2014 and 2015 data, there were around 1,000 women from Central Asia in Iraq and Syria’s combat zones. According to Indira Dzholdubaeva, prosecutor-general of the Kyrgyz Republic, there are over 120 Kyrgyz women in Syria and Iraq. Chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan, Nurtay Abykaev, has said there were 150 Kazakh women in ISIS ranks in Syria. The authorities of Uzbekistan, meanwhile, have said that up to 500 Uzbek women are in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan with various groups. The Ministry of the Interior of Tajikistan claims that over 200 Tajik women have gone to the war zones in Syria together with their husbands. However, the website of the Ministry of the Interior has published the names and photos of only five Tajik women who are wanted due to their membership in ISIS”.11 Moreover, analyst and expert of current affairs, Nick Mucerino (November 5, 2018) has noted the threat to Russia from Islamic State returnees from Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan:
“The threat posed by Russian speaking fighters who travelled to fight under the Islamic State in Syria presents a complicated problem for both Russia and its allies to address. Just like its Western counterparts, Russia is worried that these returnees will mount deadly attacks on the country’s soil. The danger presented by Russian speaking foreign fighters loyal to the Islamic State is not lost on the Kremlin. Since its emergence during Syria’s civil war in 2013, Russians and Russian speaking nationals from the former Soviet Union have been a prominent presence among the terror group’s fighters. In February 2017, President Vladimir Putin, citing security service figures, stated that approximately 4,000 Russian citizens and 5,000 from Central Asia followed the ISIS’ appeals for aid. Many took part in helping to establish its ‘caliphate’, or the proto-state it carved out of the lands ISIS seized from Iraq and Syria. This figure is the largest in Europe and even outnumbers the citizens from Arab states including Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, who travelled to join the Group. The large presence of Russian speakers is further reflected in the fact that it the second most common language among ISIS fighters and several of its top commanders belong to the former USSR. Independent security experts have estimated that about 400 of those fighters have already returned to Russia after fighting in Syria”.12
The US-Taliban deal encouraged extremist groups from Central Asia and China that now with the support of Pakistan and Taliban; they will exacerbate operational activities in Central Asia and Russia. They receive training of dangerous weapons and nuclear explosives in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A women military brigade (Dr. Yunis Khushi-June 26, 2017) of the ISIS and Taliban receives training of dangerous weapons under the supervision of Pakistan’s army in Sialkot district of Punjab province. In his (The Diplomat, 08 April 2020) article, Uran Botobekov noted the zeal and felicitations of these groups:
Al-Qaeda-backed Central Asian Salafi-Jihadi groups were highly encouraged by the US-Taliban agreement which was signed in February 2020, aiming to bring peace to Afghanistan. Some Uzbek groups such as Katibat Imam al-Bukhari (KIB), Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ), the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), and Tajik militants of Jamaat Ansarullah (JA), and Uighur fighters of Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) from China’s Xinjiang region, have already expressed their clear opinion about this particular deal through their respective Telegram accounts. Some of the groups congratulated the agreement, while others dedicated emotional eulogies