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ARTICLE: Militant attacks strike eastern Uzbekistan, Jane's, 03 June 2009
When you indulge in your opponents' desire for a "central front," you do the region a favor by drawing in a lot of violent extremists. But when you spray that apartment, in hopes of killing and/or driving off the cockroaches, then the next apartments over are forced to Militant attacks strike eastern Uzbekistan
03 June 2009
On 26 May, the Uzbek government reported the most serious militant attacks to strike the country for several years when a suicide bomber and gunmen launched separate attacks in nearby towns in the Ferghana Valley region of the country.
Details of the attacks from the highly secretive country remain limited and often contradictory. However, responsibility for at least one of the attacks has been claimed by the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), whose previous activity has largely been confined to Afghanistan and the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.
The attacks serve to highlight the risk of further violence in Uzbekistan's eastern region, where a mixture of government repression, widespread poverty and high unemployment has created a potent undercurrent of unrest. The subsequent claims of responsibility by the IJU will likewise raise concerns in Central Asia about the ¡involvement of organised militant groups capable of harnessing this discontent, and potentially applying expertise gained in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Copyright © IHS (Global) Limited, 2009
End of non-subscriber extract [Source, Janes]
From Juan Cole's Informed Comment' "I continue to believe Musharraf has done a pretty good job, done a lot of the things that we wanted him to do . . . I would remind some of my fellow Americans that Benazir Bhutto and [former prime minister Nawaz] Sharif presided over failed states, there was corruption, there was a failed state in Pakistan when Musharraf took charge...I would like to give Musharraf some credit for taking the measures that we asked him to do." 'Musharraf's 'successful state' involved dismissing the Supreme Court, provoking massive and repeated demonstrations, violating the constitution, interfering with free and fair elections, and presiding over a virtual national meltdown on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto late last December. McCain appears to value nothing beyond sheer military might-- even if it has shady contacts to al-Qaeda!
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