VZCZCXRO8926
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #1473 2471323
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041322Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFIUU/CDR USTRANSCOM SCOTT AFB IL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS TASHKENT 001473 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
DS/IP/SCA 
DS/IP/ITA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER KCRM UZ
SUBJECT: TASHKENT SHOOT-OUT ATTRIBUTED TO UZBEK EXTREMIST GROUP 
 
REF: TASHKENT 1469 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  An official press release from the Uzbek 
Attorney General's Office published September 4 reported that the 
shoot-out which took place on Saturday (reftel) was part of a 
special operation directed at a group of Islamic terrorists.  The 
armed men were believed to be members of an extremist group 
responsible for a series of assassinations and attempted 
assassinations. 
 
 
 
EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES IN TASHKENT 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The first assassination attributed to this unidentified 
extremist group was the fatal stabbing of the young deputy director 
of a local madrassah on July 16 of this year.  The victim was found 
with more than two thousand US dollars in cash, car keys and credit 
cards in his pocket, clearly ruling out robbery as a motive.  On 
July 31, the principal Imam of Tashkent survived multiple stab 
wounds after being called out of his house by three assailants. 
The Imam is a highly visible religious figure in Uzbekistan, and 
known to be a sharp critic of followers of both Wahhabi Islam and 
the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir.  On August 9, Hasan Asadov, a 
highly placed official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was 
shot to death in his home.  Asadov was a member of a GOU 
interagency group dedicated to fighting terrorism. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The press release also states that the extremists who 
participated in the shoot-out had been trained in "foreign 
terrorist centers," an allegation which was repeated by a highly 
placed police contact.  Three extremists were reportedly killed 
during the shoot-out.  An unknown number of suspected members of 
the same group were arrested throughout Tashkent following the 
shoot-out, according to a police contact.  This contact also 
claimed that surveillance records show that a Chechen terrorist 
made telephone contact with the extremists shortly before the 
shoot-out, and then subsequently committed suicide (a development 
which has not been separately confirmed). 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment: If this event was, as seems increasingly 
probable, associated with extremists, it is a reminder that 
Uzbekistan remains a prime target for these groups in the region. 
The GOU routinely expresses this concern as increased pressure in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan leads some hardened terrorists to move 
towards Central Asia, and as their profile on Afghan transit 
(Northern Distribution Network) goes up.  Although Uzbekistan and 
Tashkent are by no means permissive environments due to the heavy 
presence of the security forces, the GOU's control even of the 
capital is clearly not air tight.  Curiously, conspiracy theories 
still circulate that the shoot-out was merely a "spectacle" staged 
by the GOU to show that there is a threat and that the authorities 
have it under control. 
NORLAND