Background:
Katibat Imam al Bukhari (KIB) aka Imam Bukhari Jamaat is active in North Afghanistan.  KIB has also played a prominent role in northwestern Syria fighting alongside al Qaeda’s and other jihadist forces there. Prior to his death last April the Syrian wing was led by a veteran of the jihad in Afghanistan who was sent to Syria by the Taliban and Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of the Taliban’s top deputies and leader of the powerful al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network.

KIB took part in the al Qaeda-led 2015 offensive that took over Idlib Province, as well as the al Qaeda-led offensive in the southern Aleppo countryside and renewed clashes in Latakia in 2016. It has also advertised its training camps in the country, including at least two for children.

Both of of KIB’s Syrian and Afghanistan branches swear allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada and the Taliban. More recently, KIB began identifying itself on social media as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – Katibat Imam al Bukhari,” a link to the official name used by the Taliban. KIB has also been linked to other Uzbek jihadist groups in Afghanistan, namely the Islamic Jihad Union and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.