Abu Saloh, the emir of Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, appears twice in a new Imam Bukhari Jamaat video. The video deals with the recent offensive in al Misat in Aleppo province, of which the Al Nusrah Front, Imam Bukhari Jamaat, Katibat al Tawhid, Ansar al Din, and a few other groups cooperated in.
Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) is a relatively small Uzbek group operating mainly in Aleppo province. The group was formerly an Uzbek jamaat within the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. However, sometime in late 2014, the group split with Al Nusrah to become its own group. Despite splitting with Al Nusrah, the two groups enjoy close cooperation. KTJ also enjoys close cooperation with the Imam Bukhari Jamaat.
Imam Bukhari Jamaat, which is the largest Uzbek group in Syria, is a close ally to Al Nusrah and the Chechen-led Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (JMA). Imam Bukhari Jamaat is one of the few groups in Syria that has its bayah (allegiance) to Mullah Omar of the Taliban (the other group is likely the Turkestan Islamic Party in Syria).
In this video, Abu Saloh makes two appearances. The first appearance is near the beginning of the video, which appears to show Abu Saloh taking part in the planning stages of the attacks. The second appearance is actually from a KTJ video. The video, which was originally uploaded by KTJ's official YouTube channel, was put into the Imam Bukhari video. The short clip just shows Abu Saloh showing off several weapons captured from regime forces in al Misat.
This is not the first time Abu Saloh has appeared in an Imam Bukhari video. On Jan. 20, Abu Saloh appeared in an Imam Bukhari video showing its efforts in the battles in Zahra and Nubl. I noted back then that this likely represents that Abu Saloh's KTJ works closely with Imam Bukhari. Recent events on the ground and subsequently shown in social media accounts corroborate this hypothesis. The most recent video only further highlights this. The fact that the two operate side by side should be no surprise as both are Uzbek groups that share the same areas of operation. Not only that, but Abu Saloh used to be part of Al Nusrah, which is a key ally for Imam Bukhari.
Screenshots from the most recent Imam Bukhari video can be seen below
Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) is a relatively small Uzbek group operating mainly in Aleppo province. The group was formerly an Uzbek jamaat within the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. However, sometime in late 2014, the group split with Al Nusrah to become its own group. Despite splitting with Al Nusrah, the two groups enjoy close cooperation. KTJ also enjoys close cooperation with the Imam Bukhari Jamaat.
Imam Bukhari Jamaat, which is the largest Uzbek group in Syria, is a close ally to Al Nusrah and the Chechen-led Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (JMA). Imam Bukhari Jamaat is one of the few groups in Syria that has its bayah (allegiance) to Mullah Omar of the Taliban (the other group is likely the Turkestan Islamic Party in Syria).
In this video, Abu Saloh makes two appearances. The first appearance is near the beginning of the video, which appears to show Abu Saloh taking part in the planning stages of the attacks. The second appearance is actually from a KTJ video. The video, which was originally uploaded by KTJ's official YouTube channel, was put into the Imam Bukhari video. The short clip just shows Abu Saloh showing off several weapons captured from regime forces in al Misat.
This is not the first time Abu Saloh has appeared in an Imam Bukhari video. On Jan. 20, Abu Saloh appeared in an Imam Bukhari video showing its efforts in the battles in Zahra and Nubl. I noted back then that this likely represents that Abu Saloh's KTJ works closely with Imam Bukhari. Recent events on the ground and subsequently shown in social media accounts corroborate this hypothesis. The most recent video only further highlights this. The fact that the two operate side by side should be no surprise as both are Uzbek groups that share the same areas of operation. Not only that, but Abu Saloh used to be part of Al Nusrah, which is a key ally for Imam Bukhari.
Screenshots from the most recent Imam Bukhari video can be seen below
- Caleb