Explosions in Tashkent Pt. 2

Quick update on the bombings in Uzbekistan:


The effect of the attack on the State Prosecutor's Office (AP/Anvar Ilyasov)

According to Muslim Uzbekistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan have claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement posted on an Islamist website .

A group of young Muslims from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan carried out martyrdom operations today against the embassies of America and Israel and the office of the prosecutor general, which started a few days ago to try several brethren from the group

A reference to the trial of the 15 militants suspected of involvement in the wave of violence in the country in March and April. The statement continues in the style you'd expect:

Martyrdom operations carried out by the group will not stop. They are directed against the injustice of the apostate government and in support of our Muslim brethren in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Hijaz (Saudi Arabia) and other Islamic countries ruled by apostates.

Muslim Uzbekistan point out that the authenticity of the statement cannot be confirmed and I've been unable to access the site to check for myself (which I might not be able to do even if I could access it, as it's likely to be in Arabic or Uzbek, neither of which I can read).

Assuming this turns out to be true, it would rather seem to undermine the claims made by various analysts earlier this year that IMU had been crippled by US action in Afghanistan. Another reason why the war was a good idea out of the window.

If you feel so compelled you can read Bill Rammell, the Foreign Office Minister's response to the explosions couertsy of the Government News Network. He states, "The rule of law is one of our strongest defences against the disorder which terrorists seek to create." Fair enough, but it isn't entirely clear what this has to do with Karimov's regime which demonstrates its respect for the rule of law by boiling people to death.