Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan/Islamic Party of Turkestan
The IMU is a coalition of militant Islamic groups from Uzbekistan and Central Asia. The original goal of the movement was to overthrow the secular Uzbek government and replace it with an Islamic state based on conservative interpretations of Islamic law, an objective since expanded into neighboring countries. Tohir Yuldashev and Juma Namangani founded the IMU in 1998, recruiting low-income ethnic Uzbeks and religious minorities in the Fergana Valley. Yuldashev had long been...