ABSTRACT
Radical Islam in Central Asia is in the midst of sweeping transformations. Despite the loss of their Afghan base, terror groups in the region are adapting and are mounting increasingly potent operations. This transformation has been in the making for some time. Over the past few years, Central Asia's terrorist groups have expanded their geographic reach and intensified their activities throughout much of the post-Soviet space. New alliances have also sprouted up. According to July 2004 testimony of the head of Tajikistan's National Security Service, Tokon Mamytov, the IMU, Tajik and Kyrgyz fundamentalists and Uighurs from Western China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region have joined forces to create a new clandestine umbrella organization, the Islamic Movement of Central Asia. Its purported goal: the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in Central Asia (Agoulnik and Kelly 2004).
