Tohir Yo‘ldosh

Who was Tohir Yo‘ldosh?

Tohir Abduhalilovich Yuldashev, cofounded the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an Islamist organization active in Central Asia, with Juma Namangani in December 1991. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency he was a key leader opposing US forces during Operation Anaconda. The United Nations considers the IMU an Islamic terrorist organization.

When anti-Taliban forces killed Namangani, the IMU's military leader and cofounder, in Afghanistan in 2001, Yuldashev took over the IMU's day-to-day operations as well.

According to the BBC, Yuldashev learned that al Qaeda was planning to use hijacked airliners to attack the United States on September 11, 2001, prior to the attacks. The BBC reported that Yuldashev then informed the Taliban Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, who sent an envoy to warn the USA of al Qaeda's attack plans prior to September 11, 2001. According to the BBC Yuldashev was told to initiate an advance warning to the USA of the attacks because he was concerned that an al Qaeda attack on the USA would trigger an American counter-attack, which would imperil the safe haven his group had been enjoying in Afghanistan.