Executive Summary:

Abu Dujana al-Turkistani, a leading Central Asian jihadist trainer and founder of Muhojir Tactical, was arrested by Syria’s General Intelligence Service, triggering deep resentment among foreign fighters and exposing rifts between the transitional government and remaining foreign fighters linked to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
His detention has produced fragmented reactions across Central Asian and Caucasian militant circles, fueled conspiracy theories, and forced the transitional authorities to negotiate directly with foreign jihadist factions to prevent wider unrest.
As Damascus seeks international legitimacy and cooperation—particularly with the United States, United Nations, and Central Asian states—Abu Dujana’s opaque case illustrates how the government may be distancing itself from notorious HTS-aligned foreign militants implicated in past atrocities.

Abu Dujana al-Turkistani (Arabic: أبو دجانة التركستاني) is one of the most prominent figures among foreign jihadist-aligned fighters in Syria. He founded the private military training company Muhojir Tactical, which fought with and helped train Islamist rebels in the Syrian Civil War. Al-Turkistani’s training outfit Muhojir Tactical has trained Central Asian, Caucasian, and local Arab Islamist fighters in military competency over the past five years. He was detained by Syria’s General Intelligence Service (Arabic: جهاز المخابرات العامة, GIS) in the summer, as he and his compatriot Islom al-Uzbeki were held in a high-security facility in Idlib reserved for foreign militants before being transferred in late October to Damascus and placed in a general prison bloc (X/@G88Daniele, August 18). This bloc housed former regime security personnel, implying the seriousness of their imprisonment. Disillusionment over Abu Dujana’s Arrest Abu Dujana’s detention generated deep disillusionment among foreign fighters in Syria towards the al-Sharaa-led transitional government (Instagram/muhojir_uzz, October 9). Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, Druze media outlets, and the Kurdish Rojava Network expressed satisfaction at the escalating confrontation between Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (Arabic: هيئة تحرير الشام, HTS) foreign remnants and its descendent Syrian authorities (Telegram/@Directorate 4, October 8; X/@RojavaNetwork, October 10; Telegram/@SyriaInTime, October 11). The General Intelligence Service has yet to disclose charges against Abu Dujana, fueling conspiratorial speculation across jihadist networks that his arrest was orchestrated by Israel and the West, rooted in friction with HTS, involved a $2 million payment from the Kurdish SDF, or was linked to the massacre of Alawite civilians in Latakia (Arabic: اللاذقية) (X/@karimfranceschi, August 17; LinkedIn/Roberto Lafforgue, September 9; Aymenn’s Monstrous Publications, October 10). Reactions to Abu Dujana’s arrest from inside his own circles have been mixed. Abu Dujana’s wife asserted in an interview that her husband was falsely accused of receiving $2 million from the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (Kurdish: Hêzên Sûriya Demokratîk) and appealed for his release. She cautioned that growing discontent among his muhajireen (Arabic: مهاجرون/مهاجرين, “immigrants,” referencing foreign fighters who immigrate to champion an Islamic cause) supporters could rapidly escalate into large-scale unrest (X/@BilalKareem, October 15). While foreign fighters integrated within the Ministry of Defense have remained silent about Abu Dujana’s arrest, several militants from Chechen Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Arabic: جيش المهاجرين والأنصار, JMA), Uzbek Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: كتيبة التوحيد والجهاد, also spelled “Tavhid va Jihod” in line with Uzbek conventions, KTJ), and Uyghur-led Turkestan Islamic Party (Uyghur: تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى, TIP) publicly defended him, demanding he receive hospital treatment during his detention for a liver issue. These complex reactions highlight the fragmentation of Central Asian and Caucasian jihadists over the issue of his arrest (X/@QalaatAlMudiq, October 15). Abu Dujana’s defenders emphasize his and al-Uzbeki’s sacrifices and injuries for helping “rescue them [Syrians] from the oppression of authoritarian tyrants” (Arabic: “رفع عنهم ظلم الطغاة المستبدين”) and urged authorities to provide medical care for them, ensure their fair trial, and inform their families of their conditions. The GIS’s silence has only prolonged tensions between the muhajireen and the Syrian security structure. Abu Dujana’s arrest even provoked anger among foreign militant factions abroad, far from being limited to Central Asians or Caucasian foreign fighters in Syria. Amid these tensions, a confrontation with the French-Senegalese Firqat al-Ghuraba (Arabic: فرقة الغرابة) was resolved on October 23 through an agreement signed by Syrian Defense Ministry representative Abu Abdu Taum (Arabic: أبو عبدو طاعوم) and mediated by Uzbek KTJ leader Ustoz Abdul Aziz as well as prominent Tajik and Uyghur emirs (Independent Arabia, October 22; X/@mucagcebe, October 24). Path to Extremism Abu Dujana was born in 1997 as Sherzod Abdurakhmonov to a middle-class Uzbek family in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Osh is located close to the border with Uzbekistan, and linked geographically to the largely Uyghur Xinjiang (Uyghur: شىنجاڭ) region within the People’s Republic of China. During his career as a jihadist, he adopted several aliases—first “Ayub Serhan,” then “Ayub Hawk” (names in Arabic: أيوب ستحان; أيوب هوك), and finally “Abu Dujana al-Turkistani.” His choice of demonym evokes the broader historical region of Turkistan across Central Asia, parts of Afghanistan, Xinjiang, and Siberia, home to Turkic peoples. The epithet “al-Turkistani” reflects a pan-Turkic Islamist aspiration, and may have been inspired by Abdurakhmanov’s Uyghur wife, Nurmuhammad Abdulqadir (Uyghur: نۇرمۇھەممەد ئابدۇلقادىر). Likewise, the nom de guerre “Abu Dujana” is a reference to the companion of Muhammad and renowned warrior Simak bin Kharasha (Arabic: سماك بن خرشة), who was referred to as “Abu Dujana” (Arabic: أبو دجانة, “father of the downpour,” implying that his presence on the battlefield figuratively drowned his foes). The 2010 Kyrgyz–Uzbek violence in which Abdurakhmanov’s family home was destroyed and a relative was killed profoundly shaped his worldview. He and his mother migrated to Russia, where exposure to xenophobia, nationalism, and street-level chauvinism deepened his alienation and ultimately drove him to adopt jihadist ideology before travelling to assist the Syrian rebels in Idlib. As he later stated, he was “following an inner call to defend dispossessed Muslims and earn Allah’s mercy.” The participation of the muhajireen in the Syrian insurgency was a catalyzing factor in transforming the forces opposed to Assad—previously fighting on account of a wide range of ethnic and political grievances—into a transnational, largely Salafi-jihadist-aligned force that framed the world as in a binary divide between “monotheists” (Salafist Muslims) and infidels (Arabic: الموحِّدون والكفار) and fought to impose their interpretation of the sharia as state law (YouTube, February 5, 2024). The Voice of Central Asian Jihad Abu Dujana began his militant career fighting with the Chechen JMA before joining Uzbek KTJ. In 2022, together with Abu Valid (whose real name is Khudoyor Nuriddinov) from Rishton, Uzbekistan, he founded Muhojir Tactical, promoting it through media channels while combining daily training with frontline operations in Idlib (YouTube, January 29). The group’s Telegram, YouTube, and Instagram channels became the most prominent of any comparable Central Asian jihadist media outlets, with tens of thousands of views on most videos (YouTube, January 22). Abu Dujana’s articulate speech in both Arabic and Uzbek, on-camera confidence, and professional military skills attracted a broad following. He became one of the most influential online propagandists among Central Asians in HTS-controlled areas, showcasing Western-made weapons in polished videos alongside tactical training and combat operations. The goal of the channel appears to have been to recruit, inspire, and radicalize followers. Live Q&A sessions earned him the title “Lion of Islam,” (Arabic: أسد الإسلام). Abu Dujana also sought to mobilize Central Asian migrant workers in Russia against xenophobia and nationalism via online ideological and operational content. Syria’s Reengagement with the International Community Post-HTS Syria’s relationship to its foreign fighters has been complicated by Western and internationalist pressure on the transitional government to distance itself from and prosecute jihadist elements remaining in the country. Al-Sharaa’s landmark November 10 visit to Washington underscored U.S. efforts to bring Damascus into its counter-ISIS coalition and amplified UN calls for the prosecution of HTS-linked foreign and local militants implicated in war crimes against Syria’s Druze and Alawite minorities (United Nations, August 14; Wall Street Journal, November 10). Against this backdrop, footage continues to circulate of Uzbek militants led by Abu Dujana conducting assisting in the March massacre of Alawite civilians in Syria’s coastal region, which in part scandalizes the transitional government’s international standing (Substack/ajmals, March 8). Central Asian nations are also beginning to engage with Syria as they demand extradition of their citizens. Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security delivered 150 tons of humanitarian aid to Syria on November 6, in a gesture publicly praised by al-Sharaa (Kaktus, November 6). The event marked the first serious engagement between Damascus and a Central Asian power, as Bishkek continues pressing for the extradition of its citizens, including Abu Dujana, on terrorism charges. Conclusion Syria’s treatment of pro-HTS foreign fighters weighs heavily on the country’s international standing. The international community continues to demand accountability for violence against ethnoreligious minorities committed partly by muhajireen forces that helped bring the transitional government to power. The opaque case of Abu Dujana underscores how al-Sharaa, seeking both international recognition and domestic legitimacy, may be pragmatically beginning to sever ties with notorious pro-HTS transnational militants, just as he previously did with Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

Abu Dujana al-Turkistani: Uzbek Foreign Fighter Arrested by Syrian Government

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Abu Dujana al-Turkistani: Uzbek Foreign Fighter Arrested by Syrian Government

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