The Emir of the Turkestan Islamic Party, who holds a position in Al-Qaeda’s executive leadership council and resides in Afghanistan, Abdul Haq al-Turkestani, has sent a message to the group’s fighters in Syria. These fighters operate under the command of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which seized control of Damascus late last year and established a government.

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In its latest report on Afghanistan, the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team revealed that Abdul Haq lives in Kabul and oversees the Syrian branch of the Turkestan Islamic Party, according to Long War Journal.

The report states that the Turkestan Islamic Party’s forces in Syria are led by an individual known as Kayousir. A previous monitoring team report from July 2024 noted that Kayousir’s deputies, Zahid Qari and Sheikh Touba, were appointed by Abdul Haq in March 2024.

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The report confirms that the Turkestan Islamic Party has retained most of its forces in Syria, with an estimated number of between 800 and 3,000 fighters. This number could rise due to the military offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its control over Damascus.

According to the previous monitoring team report from July 2024, the Turkestan Islamic Party “receives financial support from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, operates businesses in regional countries, including Turkey, to generate funds, and trains foreign terrorists with increasing levels of sophistication.”

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The Turkestan Islamic Party has been a strong ally of Al-Qaeda, collaborating with the organization in Afghanistan and Syria for decades. It fought alongside Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan even before the U.S. invasion in 2001. The party aligned itself with Al-Qaeda when the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan split, with one faction joining ISIS in 2016.

Turkestan Islamic Party fighters flocked to Syria at the onset of the Syrian uprising in early 2011, joining Al-Qaeda’s affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, which later evolved into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Abdul Haq is a veteran jihadist who became the leader of the Turkestan Islamic Party in late 2003 after the death of Hassan Mahsum, the group’s founder, who was killed during clashes with Pakistani forces in an Al-Qaeda training camp in South Waziristan in October 2003.

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