Islamist militants pose challenge for next Uzbek leader
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OSH- Whoever takes over the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan after its president's death faces a challenge to keep a lid on Islamist militants who have become foot soldiers in global jihadist groups.
Uzbek fighters are deeply embedded in Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, fight alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, have secret outposts in the biggest Russian cities and have ties with Muslim militants from China who reject Beijing's rule.
Veteran Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, who died last week from a stroke, used brutal methods and a vast security apparatus to keep tabs on a militant movement born in the 1990s out of an insurgency in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic.
