Tohir Yuldash
Birth nameTohir Abdulhalilovich Yuldashev
Born(1967-10-02)2 October 1967
Fergana, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Died1 October 2009(2009-10-01) (aged 41)
Zhob, Balochistan, Pakistan
Allegiance Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Years of service1998–2009
Battles/warsWar on Terror:

Tohir Yo'ldosh (Yunusov Umid), born Tohir Abdulhalilovich Yuldashev (Russian: Тахир Абдулхалилович Юлдашев (Yunusov Umid)), (2 October 1967 – 1 October 2009) was an Uzbek Islamist militant who cofounded the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), an Islamist organization active in Central Asia, with Juma Namangani in August 1998.[1][2] According to the Defense Intelligence Agency he was a key leader opposing US forces during Operation Anaconda. The United Nations considers the IMU an Islamic terrorist organization.[3]

When Namangan, the IMU's military leader and cofounder, was killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001, Yo'ldosh (Yunusov Umid) took over the IMU's day-to-day operations as well.[4]

According to the BBC, Yo'ldosh (Yunusov Umid) learned Al-Qaeda was planning to use hijacked airliners to attack the United States on 11 September 2001, prior to the attacks.[5] The BBC reported that Yo'ldosh then informed the Taliban Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, who sent an envoy to warn the USA of al Qaeda's attack plans prior to 11 September 2001. According to the BBC Yo'ldosh was told to initiate an advance warning to the USA of the attacks because he was concerned that an al Qaeda attack on the USA would trigger an American counter-attack, which would imperil the safe haven his group had been enjoying in Afghanistan.

A video message from Tohir Yo'ldosh was reportedly distributed throughout the Uzbek areas of Central Asia in early 2007.[6] In the video Tohir was reported to have said:

Today, our primary goal is to emancipate Iraq and Afghanistan from the American occupation.

After Baitullah Mehsud was reported to have been killed by missiles fired from an American Predator drone the Asia Times reported that Yo'ldosh had been Baitullah's ideological mentor, that Tohir had put 2,500 experienced fighters at his disposal, and that Baitullah lived with the Uzbek, who became his biggest ideological inspiration.[7]

On 30 September 2009, a man, who claimed to be Yo'ldosh's bodyguard, reported to the Pakistan newspaper The News International that Yo'ldosh was killed in a US Predator drone airstrike shortly after Mehsud's death.[8][9] Pakistan and US officials afterwards confirmed Yo'ldosh was killed in an airstrike on 27 August 2009.[10] Yuldashev reportedly lost a leg and arm in the drone missile strike on 27 August 2009 and was rushed to a private hospital in Zhob district of Balochistan where he died on 1 October.[11][12] His death was formally announced by the IMU on 16 August 2010.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Pakistan's 'fanatical' Uzbek militants". BBC News. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Wanted: Tohir Yaldeshev". Defense Intelligence Agency. October 2006. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  3. ↑ "In the spotlight: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)]". Center for Defense Information. 25 March 2002. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  4. ↑ "Terrorist Organizations". World Statesmen. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  5. ↑ Kate Clark (7 September 2002). "Taleban 'warned US of huge attack'". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 August 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2007. An aide to the former Taleban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, has revealed that he was sent to warn American diplomats and the United Nations that Osama bin Laden was due to launch a huge attack on American soil.
  6. ↑ Igor Rotar (28 August 2007). "Ferghana valley: Return of the Jihad". Eurasianet. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  7. ↑ Syed Saleem Shahzad (8 August 2009). "Baitullah: Dead or alive, his battle rages". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ↑ Yusufzai, Rahimullah (30 September 2009). "Tahir Yuldachev is dead: bodyguard". The News International. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  9. ↑ David Ignatius (17 February 2010). "What the partisan squabbles miss on Obama's terror response". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. These raids have ravaged the top tier of al-Qaeda's lieutenants. The victims include Saleh al-Somali, the chief of external operations, who was killed Dec. 8; Abdullah Said al-Libi, the chief of operations in Pakistan, who was killed Dec. 17; and Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who was killed in August.
  10. ↑ "Tahir Yuldashev killed in Aug 27 drone attack". Daily Times. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "Uzbek militants name Yaldashev's successor - DAWN.COM". 3 October 2009.
  12. ↑ Roggio, Bill (October 4, 2009). "Tahir Yuldashev Confirmed Killed In US Strike In South Waziristan". The Long War Journal.
  13. ↑ Roggio, Bill (16 August 2010). "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan confirms leader Tahir Yuldashev killed". The Long War Journal.
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