One of the most unlikely places in the world for Hizb-ut-Tahrir operations would have to be Ukraine. With an estimated population of 0.3 million, Muslims account for barely 0.65% of the population. The vast majority are Tartars, who in turn are about 0.5% of the population. The rest are Chechens, Afghans and other immigrants.
What I didn’t know was that Tartars/Muslims make up about 12% of the population in the Crimea, which was part of the Ottoman empire at one point.
And that is where security forces have apprehended Muslim terrorists according to this report from the Jamestown Foundation:
On October 3, units of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Internal Ministry troops apprehended 3 men suspected of membership in an unnamed Islamic militant group in a mountainous region in the Crimea. The security forces discovered two caches of weapons, explosives and literature. A gunfight broke out and one of the militants was wounded.
Then, on October 26, Ukrainian Special Forces units detained 5 more Ukrainian citizens suspected of belonging to an international Islamic militant group operating in the Crimea. The arrests came after the authorities uncovered another cache of explosive materials, detonators, a Kalashnikov rifle, firearms manuals and propaganda materials.
According to Ukrainian authorities the men were linked to two Islamic extremist groups al-Takfir wal-Hijra, which originated in Egypt and is active in North Africa and Hizb-ut-Tahrir which operates in Central Asia.
Crimean Muslims had been deported by Stalin in the ’40s and have only started returning since the fall of the USSR.
Apparently, tensions have developed between the Russian population, which wants Crimea to re-join Russia, and the Muslims who are firmly tied to Ukraine.
The terrorists, however, are targeting Tartar Muslims according to this report:
…the extremists planned to pass death sentences on the leader of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, MP Mustafa Jemilev, and on his supporters, and plotted a number of terrorist attacks in Ukraine.
So, what the terrorists trying to achieve by targeting Muslims? Are they hoping to terrorize the Muslim population into supporting them, or are they in league with Russia and punishing its opponents?
The funny thing when its comes to Russian affairs is that either of these possibilities could be true.
