Central Asia: The Call of ISIS ( Documentary)
Colonel Gulmurod Kalimov, head of Tajikistans elite Special Forces and close to the presidents family, was a man at the heart of the establishment. Trained in counterterrorism by both the Russians and the Americans, he led the fight against Islamic extremists in Tajikistan. But in April 2015 he disappeared only to reappear a few weeks later in an ISIS recruitment video calling on all Muslims in the former Soviet Union to come and join him. In the video, he criticised the corruption and incompetence of Tajikistans leaders and promised to bring slaughter to his former homeland. Kalimov was the most prominent of the more than 2, 000 Tajiks reported to have joined ISIS and his defection was unprecedented. His incredible story lifts the lid on Central Asia, a region in the throes of upheaval, and reveals the deep malaise pervading former Soviet societies. For nearly 30 years, the predominantly Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union provided recruits for jihadist organisations. A third of ISIS
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