Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (, , ) is an Uzbek/Kyrgyz

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

militant organization based in Syria.

History

The group was established in Syria in 2014 by Sirojiddin Mukhtarov, and consists of mostly Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals. In 2015 the group, with the help of

Al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...

and

Ajnad al-Kavkaz Ajnad al-Kavkaz (AK or AAK; ) is a Chechen-led Salafi jihadist militant group in northwestern Syria, operating primarily in the mountainous and forested areas of Latakia Governorate. Although it was formed by former fighters of the Caucasus Emi ...

, attempted to establish a

de facto state A sovereign state is a state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may also refer to a constituent country, or a ...

in northwestern Syria. This was all after the fighting in

Idlib province Idlib Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the south, ...

, specifically in the town of Jisr ash-Shughur. In 2016 the group bombed the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan, under Mukhtarov's orders. Three people were arrested and sentenced for aiding and abetting the bombing. In 2019 the group hired hitmen to kill Aierken Saimaiti, a man who exposed a large money laundering scheme. Also in 2019, the groups

Shura council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...

voted unanimously to replace Mukhtarov with Ilmurad Khikmatov. In 2021 two of the head propagandists of the organization were arrested in the town of Tanzim after attempting to recruit Uzbek school children to go to Syria to fight for the group. In 2022 the United States designated the group a terrorist organization. Also the same year, in September, Mukhtarov, the original founder of the organization, was killed in a targeted airstrike by the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

. In 2023, a foreign supporter of the group in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

attempted to build an IED in order to bomb certain targets in support of the group. The group supplied the materials overseas. In September 2024 it was reported that militants from the group were operating in the

Afrin Region Afrin Region (; ; ) was the westernmost of the three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The region previously had two subordinate cantons, the Afrin Canton, consisting of the Afrin city area (with the ...

and reinforcing the Hamza Division, working closely with its head, Sayf Bulad, in advance of anticipated fighting with the

Levant Front The Levant Front (, Jabhat al-Shamiyah, also translated as the Sham Front or the Levantine Front) was a Syrian revolutionary group based around Aleppo involved in the Syrian Civil War. It was formed in December 2014. The northern branch of th ...

References

{{Militant Islamism in the Middle East 2014 establishments in Syria Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Jihadist groups in Syria Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States Salafi Jihadist groups