The leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has been injured in clashes in Pakistan.
Pakistani Army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas says unconfirmed reports suggest Tahir Yuldashev was injured during a Pakistani Air Force strike in the Makeen area of South Waziristan on the night of June 14, Pakistani media outlets reported on June 17.
The IMU was formed in the late 1990s with the goal of ousting Uzbek President Islam Karimov. The organization is recognized as a terrorist organization with links to al Qaeda and the Taliban by both the United States and Europe.
In May, the Islamic Jihad Union, believed to be a splinter group of the IMU, claimed responsibility for attacks in Khanabad and Andijan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Afghan police link the latest violence in the Uzbek Ferghana Valley to the movement of militants from Pakistan as the security crackdown there intensifies.
