The arrest of a Tajik man in New York on a charge of sending money to members of terrorist network Islamic State (IS or ISIS) in Turkey and Syria has sparked renewed debate over the level of radicalisation and extremist recruitment in Tajikistan.

Truck driver Mansuri Manuchekhri, 33, was ordered into custody during an appearance in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on February 26.

It stated: “A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Mansuri Manuchekhri with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and to the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), possessing firearms while unlawfully in the United States and immigration fraud. Manuchekhri was arrested today and made his initial appearance this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy who ordered the defendant detained.”

“As alleged, the defendant, who was in the United States illegally, not only facilitated tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to ISIS extremists overseas, but trained with assault rifles at shooting ranges in the United States and declared his readiness to ISIS,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “Protecting the homeland and prosecuting evildoers who assist terrorist organizations by funding their violent and hateful agenda, here and abroad, will always be a priority of this Office.”   

The attorney’s office alleged Manuchekhri recorded himself firing an assault rifle at a shooting range in New Jersey “and sent the video to one of the ISIS-affiliated individuals in Turkey with the message, ‘Thank God, I am ready, brother.’” 

The office’s statement added: “As alleged in the complaint, Manuchekhri traveled to the United States from Tajikistan in June 2016 on a non-immigrant tourist visa and remained in the country after his visa expired in December 2016.  In March 2017, Manuchekhri paid an American citizen to enter into a sham marriage with him so that he could obtain legal status in the United States. However, he failed to provide certain supporting documentation that was requested by the government and his petition was never granted. 

“From approximately December 2021 through April 2023, while residing in Brooklyn, Manuchekhri facilitated approximately $70,000 in payments to ISIS-affiliated individuals in Turkey and Syria, including to an individual who was later arrested by Turkish authorities for his alleged involvement in a January 2024 terrorist attack on a church in Istanbul for which ISIS-K publicly claimed responsibility. Manuchekhri expressed his support for ISIS to others by praising past ISIS attacks in the United States and by collecting jihadi propaganda videos promoting violence and martyrdom.”

If convicted, Manuchekhri faces a maximum sentence of 45 years’ imprisonment.

Manuchekhri’s arrest came just months after US authorities deported eight Tajik citizens with alleged ISIS ties.

The Tajik government, meanwhile, said it has stepped up efforts at tackling the mounting threats of religious extremism and terrorism.

“We ask parents to speak to their children who live abroad, but I don’t think it yields results. Their children are adults, they have their own lives,” a district official involved in a door-to-door anti-extremism campaign in Tajikistan’s southern Khatlon region told RFE/RL.

Rights groups often refer to the disillusionment of young people in Tajikistan who live under the harsh Rahmon regime, a regime that is increasingly regarded as despotic. Such a situation can be exploited by terrorist and extremist groups who radicalise individuals with the promise of a better life.

Terrorism analysts say that at least 30 Tajiks have been implicated in ISIS-related terrorist attacks and plots beyond Muslim-majority Tajikistan’s borders since January 2024.

ISIS-K, sometimes known as ISKP, is based in Afghanistan, which neighbours Tajikistan and has a sizeable number of Tajik ethnic minority citizens.

It is ISKP that claimed responsibility for the March 2024 terrorist atrocity in outer Moscow in which at least 145 people were slain at the Crocus City Hall concert venue. Four Tajik men accused of being the gunmen who committed the attack—an attack that very much brought the increasing role of Tajik nationals in ISIS terrorism to world attention—remain in pre-trial attention in Russia.

Russian authorities in all arrested up to 20 people, most of them Tajik nationals, as they pursued migrants who assisted the assailants.

In Iran, two Tajik citizens allegedly carried out a double suicide bombing that killed 91 people in January, 2024. The same day, two terrorists targeted a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul. Turkish authorities said one of the assailants was from Tajikistan.

German police in January 2024 said that a Tajik migrant had been arrested on suspicion of planning assaults on cathedrals in Germany and Austria.