Uzbeks in Pakistan

Uzbeks in Pakistan
Total population
(70,000)
Regions with significant populations
North-West Frontier Province (Peshawar) · FATA
Languages
Uzbek · Persian · Urdu · English
Religion
Islam

There are an estimated 70,000 Uzbeks in Pakistan (Urdu: ازبک‎, Uzbek: 'Oʻzbeklar'). The Uzbek populations in Pakistan consist of Uzbek immigrants from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan (around 7.3% of Afghans in Pakistan are Uzbeks).[1] They Soviet war in Afghanistan drove them to Pakistan.[2] In 1981 Afghan turkestan refugees in Pakistan moved to Turkey to join the existing Kayseri, Izmir, Ankara, and Zeytinburnu based communities.[3] The Uzbeks can be found mainly in north-west Pakistan, comprising the areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (in particular Peshawar), Gilgit-Baltistan. Additionally, Uzbek militants allied to al-Qaeda from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Islamic Jihad Union are believed to reside in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Their number at their height was predicted to be anywhere from 500 to 5,000.[4] Now, only a few hundred foreign militants of all nationalities are thought to remain in Pakistan[5] - the majority either having been killed by the Pakistani military's Zarb-e-Azb operation launched in 2014, or shifting to other theaters of jihadist conflict, such as Syria.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Afghan Refugees: Current Status and Future Prospects
  2. ↑ Audrey Shalinsky (1994). Long Years of Exile: Central Asian Refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan. University Press of America. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-8191-9286-8.
  3. ↑ Espace populations sociétés. Université des sciences et techniques de Lille, U.E.R. de géographie. 2006. p. 174.
  4. ↑ Islamist Uzbeks lead terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan - Generational Dynamics
  5. ↑ "THE DEATH KNELL FOR FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN PAKISTAN?" by Raza Khan in the November/December 2014 edition of "CTC Sentinel Journal" published by the Combatting Terrorism Center at Westpoint University


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