Tajikistan, a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia, has Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, and Pakistan as its bordering neighbors. The Rasht Valley, an administrative and geographic unit of Tajikistan, became the stronghold of the opposition forces during the Tajikistan Civil War (1992-1997).

Rasht was the stronghold of the Islamists that belonged to the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), a coalition of Islamists and secular reformists who fought during the Tajikistan civil war. The isolated and mountainous area of Tavildara in the Rasht valley is ‘within easy trekking distance of the Afghan border.’

The Taliban-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has been smuggling drugs through the Rasht valley, reportedly to finance ‘terrorism.’ Historically, after 1997, Tavildara became a stronghold of the IMU which supported the UTO.

Rasht was also used by the IMU as ‘a base to carry out attacks against Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in 1999 and 2000, but was eventually forced to relocate to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.’

In early May this year, the government launched its Poppy 2009 operation in Tavildara. Poppy 2009 is a largely military operation that aims to dismantle poppy farms as well as confiscate the massive volume of heroin and opium that is trafficked through the country from Afghanistan, and on to Europe.

It is said that the Poppy 2009 campaign has been a front to capture former fighters who might have re-congregated in the area. According to intelligence sources, ‘IMU fighters who fought for the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks on the US, later relocated to the Pakistani tribal areas.’ There are reports that the government’s anti-narcotics operations are staged.

There have been speculations and reports from regional and Russian media over the past few weeks that the IMU may be ‘trickling back into Central Asia, to re-ignite a dormant conflict against the governments there.’

Via Al Jazeera