In July 2000 , Namangani returned to the Tavildara Valley with several hundred fighters , and from there covertly deployed his fighters into Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan . In Uzbekistan , heavy fighting took place in the southeastern Surxondaryo Region for a month before the military forced the IMU 's fighters to retreat from their mountain strongholds to Tajikistan . In Kyrgyzstan , Namangani 's fighters kidnapped ten mountain climbers , including four Americans , who were freed following clashes with the military . These incursions prompted the United States to designate the IMU a Foreign Terrorist Organization on 25 September . Also in late 2000 , Namangani was sentenced to death , along with Yoʻldosh , by Uzbekistan following a trial '' in absentia '' for involvement in the 1999 Tashkent bombings . According to the United States Department of State , the trial " failed to conform to international standards for the protection of the human rights of the defendants " , and specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1999 Tashkent bombings
1999 Tashkent bombings
Juma Namangani