According to two reports (on Uzbekistan and Tajikstan), the Pakistan Army operation may have caused terrorists from Uzbekistan and Tajikstan to return to their countries.

Uzbekistan

Excerpt: “After getting their start in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the early 2000s, many Central Asian militants drifted to safe havens in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Now those Pakistani safe havens are becoming less secure. Pakistani troops have pressed an offensive in the Swat Valley that has pushed the Taliban back on their heels, and there is a widespread expectation that the government will soon expand its security sweep in the renegade-rich region of Waziristan. Under increasing pressure in Pakistan, Central Asian militants may be opting to return home, reviving the idea of fomenting an insurgency in Central Asia. Some early reports suggested that the clash began following some sort of incident at a police checkpoint on a road near the border town. Other reports suggested local factors, such as smuggling, could have been involved.”

For the full story, see here.

Tajikstan

Excerpt: “Officials in Tajikistan are adamantly denying a large-scale government security operation in the eastern Rasht Valley has anything to do with reports that a notorious Islamic militant commander has returned to the area from Pakistan…  Authorities are sticking with the story that the beefed up security presence in the mountainous region is connected with a government anti-drug offensive.

Some local observers believe the government is using the anti-drug explanation as a cover. The real objective, they add, is to hunt a militant Islamic commander, Abdullo Rakhimov, who also goes by the name Mullo Abdullo. According to various Russian and Tajik media outlets, Abdullo recently returned to Tajikistan from his hideout in Pakistan, bringing with him up to 100 militants. Unconfirmed reports say that Abdullo in recent weeks appeared in villages throughout the Rasht Valley seeking the support of local elders.

In 2000, Tajik government forces smashed Abdullo’s force and took the commander prisoner, along with roughly 40 of his followers. Somehow, however, Abdullo escaped punishment, and even managed to leave the country. Some experts say he had a powerful patron — the fabled Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Masoud, an ethnic Tajik — who secured his release from government custody and installed Abdullo as a commander in the Afghan Northern Alliance. More recently, Abdullo was believed to be living in Pakistan.”

For the full story see here.