Much of the Fergahan Valley is on a war footing, as officials brace for the return of IMU fighters this summer. The military presence is especially heavy in a sector of the highway that passes near the border with Tajikistan. IMU fighters, who reportedly have training and logistics bases in Afghanistan, are widely expected to use Tajikistan as a corridor for possible raids on Uzbek territory. Likewise, the military seems to have taken over many of the highway police s responsibilities for monitoring road traffic in the Ferghana Valley. At the border of Namangan Oblast, heavily armed soldiers operate a checkpoint that functions much like customs and passport control at international frontiers.
Troops verify the documents of all travelers and inspect the contents of vehicles.
In addition, numerous road blocks have been erected at points throughout the Ferghana Valley, affording officials the ability to keep close tabs of traffic. The license plate numbers of all vehicles are scrupulously recorded at each road block. The growing threat posed by Islamic radicalism has infused a sense of urgency into efforts to promote Central Asian security. For example, at an upcoming meeting in Yerevan on May 25, member states of the CIS Collective Security Treaty were expected to adopt a measure to create a rapid reaction force. On May 22, Uzbek President Islam Karimov held telephone talks with Nursultan Nazarbayev, leader of neighboring Kazakhstan, focusing on security-related issues.