By empty (5/6/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The US State Department has warned that extreme Islamic groups may be planning terrorist attacks against US citzens or interests in Kyrgyzstan. In a public announcement, the department alerted Americans that radicals such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which it described as \"a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda\" could be planning attacks. \"US citizens are urged to consider their safety and security before traveling to the Kyrgyz Republic,\" it said.
The US State Department has warned that extreme Islamic groups may be planning terrorist attacks against US citzens or interests in Kyrgyzstan. In a public announcement, the department alerted Americans that radicals such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which it described as \"a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda\" could be planning attacks. \"US citizens are urged to consider their safety and security before traveling to the Kyrgyz Republic,\" it said. \"The US Government has learned the IMU has become increasingly active in Central Asia,\" the advisory said. \"There are indications that extremists may be planning a range of terrorist attacks targeting US interests in the Kyrgyz Republic. The US Embassy in Bishkek continues to observe heightened security precautions.\" The department had warned on April 5 that the IMU, Osama bin Laden\'s al-Qaeda network and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement could be plotting attacks on hotels and US interests in neighboring Uzbekistan. Travel by US government personnel to areas of the Kyrgyz-Tajik and Kyrgyz-Uzbek borders is currently restricted, Tuesday\'s advisory said. The IMU, which is seeking to create an Islamic state in secular Uzbekistan, was believed to have been largely destroyed by the US-led military action that toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001. The statement did not say what the indications were that the IMU had had a resurgence. The East Turkistan Islamic Movement is a Uighur extremist movement based in China\'s far western Xinjiang province, designated a terrorist organisation by the US State Department last year. (AFP)