Imam Bukhari Jamaat

The Imam Bukhari Jamaat (Uzbek: Imom Buxoriy Katibasi, also Katibat Imam al Bukhari) is a Jihadist group composed of primarily Uzbeks and formed in Afghanistan,^[3] having fought in both the War in Afghanistan and Syrian Civil War, as well expressing loyalty to the Taliban movement.^[1] The group originally operated only in Syria, where it is allied with other jihadist organisations such as al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham, and alongside these other groups it makes up the Army of Conquest, which overran much of Idlib province in north Syria in 2015.^[6] Since late 2016, the group has also began to fight against Afghan National Security Forces, and has claimed to have set up training camps in northern Afghanistan.^[4]

Imam Bukhari Jamaat
Uzbek: Imom Buxoriy Katibasi
Logo of the Imam Bukhari Battalion Flag of the Imam Bukhari Battalion
Founder	Salahadin al-Uzbeki
Leaders	Salahadin al-Uzbeki † (2017)[1][2] Abu Yusuf al-Muhajir (2017-present)
Dates of operation	2012[3]-present
Allegiance	Afghan Taliban (claimed by the group since 2017, denied by the Taliban)[4]
Ideology	Islamism Jihadism[5] Turkestani-Nationalism[3]
Size	500-1000
Part of	Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (2016) Army of Conquest[6] Taliban (denied by the Taliban)
Allies	Taliban (denied by the Taliban) Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Syrian Liberation Front[7] Tahrir al-Sham Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
Opponents	Ba'athist Syria Islamic Republic of Afghanistan[4] Iran Russia United States Islamic State Syrian Democratic Forces[8]
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Siege of Abu al-Duhur Airbase[9] Siege of Al-Fu'ah-Kafriya (2015)[6] Battle of Aleppo[10] Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015)[11] 2016 Latakia offensive 2024 Syrian opposition offensives War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)[4]
Designated as a terrorist group by	Iraq[12] Kyrgyzstan[13] United States[14]

The group is named after Imam Bukhari, a 9th-century Islamic scholar who was from Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan.^[15]

Leadership

The group was led by an individual known as Sheikh Salahuddin, before his assassination in Idlib Governorate.^[16][17]

Activity

KIB has been operating in Syria and Afghanistan since at least 2015. In Syria, the group supported Al-Nusra Front and in Afghanistan the group supported the Taliban for their conquest to takeover Afghanistan. The origins of the group lie in Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

KIB swears allegiance to the Taliban leadership and has also played a prominent role in northwestern Syria fighting alongside al-Qaeda’s forces there. According to RFE/RL, the Syrian wing is led by a veteran of the jihad in Afghanistan who was sent to Syria by the Taliban and Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of the Taliban’s top deputies and leader of the powerful al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

KIB took part in the al-Qaeda-led 2015 offensive that took over Idlib Province, as well as the al Qaeda-led offensive in the southern Aleppo countryside and renewed clashes in Latakia last year. It has also advertised its training camps in the country, including at least two for children.

In 2017, the group has claimed an ambush on Afghan troops in northern Afghanistan in a statement released through the terrorist group’s Telegram channel. According to the statement, KIB jihadists destroyed three Afghan humvees in improvised explosive device (IED) blast before opening fire on soldiers. Additionally, the group claimed to kill four Afghan troops. Pictures showing the explosions and subsequent ambush were released alongside the statement.^[18]

Organization

The Syrian and Afghan branches of KIB have sworn allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada of the Taliban in 2017.^[4] The group was also suspected to have supported the Taliban during the Taliban offensive in 2021.

Since 2016, KIB has sporadically released propaganda from its Afghanistan wing. That year, the group released two videos from the northern part of the country depicting training camps for both general indoctrination and lessons on the manufacturing of IED’s, along with combat footage.

The promotion of its Afghanistan activities that year correlates to when fighters from its Syrian wing began redeploying to Afghanistan, as confirmed by the United Nations.

Since then, other releases have focused on combat footage or captured weapons from Afghan forces. Smaller sporadic attacks, such as sniper operations, have also been claimed.

Since 2018, KIB has openly identified itself as part of the Afghan Taliban as it refers to itself as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – Katibat Imam al Bukhari,” a link to the official name used by the Taliban.^[19] Further showing the group’s support to the Taliban, KIB’s Syrian wing congratulated the group for its “victory” inside Afghanistan following the announcement US withdrawal of Afghanistan in 2020.

In March 2018, the US State Department added KIB to its list of specially designated global terrorist organizations. State’s designation notes KIB’s close ties to various al-Qaeda groups inside Syria. It played a prominent role in the takeover of Idlib in 2015.

Much like KIB’s Afghanistan wing, its Syrian branch also swears allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada and the Afghan Taliban. All of these allegations have been denied by the Afghan Taliban.

See also

• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
• Foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars