Uzbekistan Dismantles ISIS-K Cell Led by 19-Year-Old Woman

 A 19-year-old woman who had studied Islamic theology in Turkey was found to be the leader of a secret ISIS-Khorasan Province cell in Namangan, eastern Uzbekistan, according to a statement from Uzbekistan’s State Security Service.

Uzbekistan Dismantles ISIS Cell Led by 19-Year-Old Woman
The Uzbek state media has reported the arrest of a 19-year-old woman and her associates who are accused of collaborating with ISIS--Khorasan


In its official announcement, the Uzbekistan’s State Security Service revealed that the woman, after attending religious courses in a private Islamic center in Istanbul in 2022, returned to Uzbekistan with radicalized views and formed a covert extremist group primarily composed of young men and women. The group actively promoted jihadist propaganda, especially via the messaging platform Telegram, where it distributed ISIS-K content and encouraged violent action against the Uzbek government.
The Uzbekistan’s State Security Service said the woman created more than 120 Telegram channels and groups where she shared extremist materials, including ISIS insignia and audio-visual content promoting jihad and martyrdom. Members of the group also participated in offline gatherings to discuss radical ideology and incite others to join the jihadist cause.
The woman reportedly underwent a drastic ideological transformation while studying in Istanbul. When her father attempted to intervene, she accused him of being an infidel and rejected his beliefs entirely. The Uzbek authorities have not released her name but published a photo of her with her face blurred.
During a coordinated security operation launched on July 19 by the the Uzbekistan’s State Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the entire cell was dismantled. Security forces searched the homes of 16 group members and seized 37 mobile phones, 51 religious books without publisher information, 40 DVDs, four flash drives, one laptop, and one tablet—all considered as evidence.
According to the Uzbekistan’s State Security Service, one member of the cell was also the founder of a private university in Namangan, raising concerns about the infiltration of extremist ideologies into educational institutions. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the group’s leader and three active members, who are now in detention. Investigations into the remaining members are ongoing.
Although Uzbekistan has previously cracked down on extremist Islamic groups, the revelation that a teenage girl led an ISIS-K cell adds a new dimension to the threat of radicalization in the conservative and religiously structured societies of Central Asia.
In a separate operation, the Uzbekistan’s State Security Service also arrested two men—aged 21 and 43—who had been illegally providing unsanctioned religious instruction to children in private homes in the capital city, Tashkent. Authorities said the men taught over 40 people, including underage children, without government approval.
Despite Uzbekistan’s strict restrictions on religious broadcasting and the spread of jihadist content, ISIS-K continues to operate online. The group targets Central Asian youth by distributing propaganda in local languages through encrypted social media platforms.
In March 2023, ISIS announced the launch of a new media center called Fursan al-Tarjuma, aimed at distributing jihadist propaganda in 18 languages, including those spoken widely across Central Asia. ISIS-K’s media arm, Al-Azaim Foundation, regularly produces content in Pashto, Farsi, Uzbek, Tajik script, Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, and English, among others. These materials are shared across dozens of Telegram channels and are often accompanied by online classes to indoctrinate new followers.

This article was first published on Independent Persian.

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