Background Jamaat Ansarullah:

A 200-strong group of pro-Taliban Tajikistan militants are now controlling areas along Afghan-Tajik border after the Taliban afforded them control of the key strategic border region in recent days, according to officials on Wednesday, July 07 2021.

Weeks after capturing key strategic areas and security outposts, Tajik authorities have said, Ansarullah group consisting of 200 Tajik nationals under Taliban umbrella have been deployed in several border districts between Afghanistan and Tajikistan raising the Taliban flag and furthering their cause.
 

The group, assumedly run by Mohammad Sharifov, is recruiting fighters from Tajikistan.

Ansarullah extremist group have taken part in Taliban offensives in Badakhshan where the militant group captured large swaths of territory in recent months. Tajik fighters in Badakhshan caught the Afghan government’s attention last year when the insurgents brutally killed a group of f Afghan Army soldiers after the fall of the Maimay district to the Taliban.

Intensity of clashes in northern and northeastern Afghanistan has increased the Taliban links with some banned extremist groups. But Ansarullah will open Pandora’s Box for Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries as the group was founded by a rogue former Tajik opposition commander Amriddin Tabarov a decade ago with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the government in Dushanbe.
 

Fearing the fallout of this new development, Tajikistan has deployed troops along its southern border with Afghanistan. Moreover, Afghan authorities had earlier claimed that a group of militants from Tajikistan played a major role in the Taliban’s capture of an Afghan district months ago.

Russia has also drafted in troops across Afghanistan border as Kremlin sees Taliban’s rise as an existential threat to its allies in Central Asia which could only be circumvented by fortifying their sagging border defences.

Ansarullah, since its creation, has had links with other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.
 

Ansarullah was founded in 2010 by Amriddin Tabarov, who had been a field commander for anti-government Islamist forces during Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war.  Tabarov, also known as Mullah Amriddin, was killed by Afghan government forces in 2015.

Initially, Ansarullah’s members were former Tajik opposition fighters who refused to accept a 1997 peace agreement between the government in Dushanbe and the Islamist-led opposition.
 

The so-called new generation -- children and relatives of the initial members and supporters -- have since joined the group.

Since its creation, Ansarullah has had links with other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.
 

In 2019, two of Tabarov's sons were detained by U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan and extradited to Tajikistan.

In August 2019, they were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after being convicted of organizing a criminal group, seeking to overthrow the government, and illegal weapons possession.

More Background:
 

Jamaat Ansarullah was founded by Amriddin Tobarov in 2006. Tobarov was a former field commander of the Islamist faction within the United Tajik Opposition. The organization's original members were former UTO members who refused to accept the 1997 armistice that ended the Tajik Civil War. The group first publicized its presence in 2010 by claiming responsibility for the September 3 car bombing of a police station in Khujand that killed three and injured 25.According to the Tajik government, Jamaat Ansarullah was also linked to insurgents fighting in the Rasht District that have since been suppressed.

In 2015, the Police of Tajikistan arrested 10 men residing in Isfara between the ages of 30 and 38 on suspicion of joining Jamaat Ansarullah. The men were found guilty by the Sughd Regional Court and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail. Earlier that year, the Sughd Regional Court's branch in Istaravshan sentenced 13 men to lengthy prison sentences for being group members. In March, the same court sentenced a man to nine years in prison for being a member of the group.

Tobarov, the group's leader, would be killed by Afghan security forces during a combat operation on January 27, 2016.Muhammad Shafirov succeed him shortly after.

Jamaat Ansarullah also caught the attention of the Afghan government in November 2020, when social media was posted of its fighters brutally killing Afghan National Army officers in uniform. The video itself purportedly showed the fall of the Maimay district to the Taliban.

In July 2021, the organization's Afghan-based fighters were entrusted by the Taliban with security of Northern Badakhshan. After the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, Tajik officials were reviewing reports of Jamaat Asarullah planning to infiltrate Tajikistan. During this time, Tajik president Emomali Rahmon, deployed 20,000 soldiers of the Tajik Ground Forces to the Afghan-Tajik border.

In July 2022, Tajik security forces noticed a guard tower that was built with assistance from the Taliban across from the Darvoz district. The group's name was also tagged on a rock on the base of the guard tower, being meant as a threat to Tajik authorities. According to an official from the Tajik Border Troops, members of the group walk demonstratively along the Panj everyday, or drive their cars in the area to verbally harass them via loudspeaker^.

In September 2022, Shapirov was reported to have been killed in Kabul.However another source claimed that he might be alive.

On April 26, 2023, the State Committee for National Security counter-terrorism forces killed three fighters of Jamaat Ansarullah in the village of Dashti Yazoglum. Both men intended to internally destabilize Tajikistan.

Another incident occurred on September 6, 2023, the State Committee for National Security counter-terrorism unit killed three fighters of Jamaat Ansarullah. The clash occurred in the Darvoz district after the latter refused to surrender. According to state media outlet Khovar, the men were intended to carry out "terrorist acts." The unit also seized night-vision devices, M16 rifles, and M15 pistols smuggled from Afghanistan.

In late 2023, representatives from Tajikistan and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan were negotiating the status of Jamaat Ansarullah in the latter's territory. The Tajik government reportedly wanted the members of the group extradited while the Afghan government offered to mediate between both groups instead. The leadership of Jamaat Ansarullah said they would only negotiate with the Tajik government if the latter agreed to several conditions including expelling the Russian 201st Military Base and declaring an Islamic state. Tajikistan rejected both, amongst other conditions.

As of August 2023, border guards of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and several other sources close to Jamaat Ansarullah confirmed that the group was no longer present in the districts they were initially given security for. They explained that members of JA have relocated elsewhere within Badakshan Province. In June 2023, much of its members again relocated to Kunduz Province.