On Dec. 26, 2024, the most prominent, veteran, and premier jihadist tactical group, Malhma Tactical returned to operations after three years.
The group never actually disbanded, it just stopped operating independently and publishing its propaganda and training videos.
Founded in 2015 at the initiative of an Uzbek jihadist, Abu Rofiq (killed in 2019), Malhama Tactical was the first tactical group in the jihadist galaxy. It was founded by a 24-year-old Uzbek initially known only through his nom de guerre Abu Rofiq al-Tartarstani until Russian intelligence revealed that behind this person was the identity of Sukhrob Muratovich Baltabaev. The group originally consisted of about 50 men, all veteran jihadists or veterans of Russian special forces and from the Russian Muslim republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Tatarstan, as well as other former Soviet countries such as Belarus and Uzbekistan.
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