Participants in the conference ‘Islam and Inter-Religious Cooperation’, which took place in Omsk with the participation of Muftis of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Kyrgyzstan, paid special attention to a translation of sacred books by the Mufti of the Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Tatarstan, Kamil Samigullin. E-Islam.kaz reports that the Mufti predicts that soon Daesh will be destroyed, and he also points out that less than 1 percent of all Muslims of the world are fighting for the group.
However, Boris Volkhonsky, head of the Asian department of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, believes that, on the contrary, Daesh is extending its sphere of influence.
“If 15 years ago we all talked about the threat of al-Qaeda, now, against the background of Daesh, al-Qaeda seems to be something homemade, and almost harmless. Although al-Qaeda has transformed under different names in Syria, for example, they are fighting under the name of Jabhat al-Nusra. And there is a great danger that what we now call Daesh, after it will be destroyed in one place, will also appear elsewhere, under another name, under different banners, with other, perhaps, leaders, but with the same tasks, with the same goals of their fight,” Boris Volkhonsky says.
According to him, the most threatening scenario would be a transfer of the activities of Daesh to territories in close contact with Russian borders – it is Afghanistan, and hence to Central Asia and the southern regions of Russia – Povolzhye, the North Caucasus, parts of Siberia. “The military and political structures of the Taliban, are fusing with Daesh. But for now, what is considered the mainstream of the Afghan Taliban after the death of Mullah Omar, is quite negative toward Daesh expanding its influence in this country,” the expert says.
He urges to look for new approaches to the situation that is emerging in Afghanistan right now: “We need some political dialogue with the part of the Taliban that is trying to integrate into the political process, but only under certain conditions: ceasing the terrorist activities of the Taliban and the attempts to spread their influence beyond Afghanistan. It is necessary to look for new non-trivial approaches. Militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are now fighting in the ranks of the Taliban. If they receive financial support and military potential from Daesh, it will be the most negative scenario for Russia. Therefore we need preemptive actions on the territories adjacent to the borders of the CIS.”
