Kyrgyz Authorities Arrest 22 Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir Extremist Group
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Bishkek, Dec 19 (NationPress) In a significant operation, Kyrgyz authorities have detained 22 active members of the religious extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, according to a statement from the country’s State Committee for National Security released on Thursday.
The coordinated effort by the State Committee for National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was initiated in the city of Jalal-Abad located in southern Kyrgyzstan.
As outlined in the report, “A stable religious extremist group has been disseminating a destructive ideology among the residents of Jalal-Abad for several years, actively recruiting new followers, creating fraudulent online accounts, and operating an underground printing facility to produce and distribute extremist materials within Kyrgyzstan.”
A substantial quantity of extremist literature, as well as computer and printing equipment utilized for producing leaflets and other propaganda, was confiscated, as noted by the Xinhua news agency.
Earlier in the year, Kyrgyz security forces had also detained six members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in southern Kyrgyzstan.
The six individuals, who strongly advocated for the extremist ideology, were apprehended in the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region.
Authorities also seized extremist literature, media content, leaflets, and mobile phones from these detainees.
The accused had been systematically propagating extremist ideology among the local populace to recruit new members into the organization.
In December 2023, Kyrgyz special services thwarted a planned terror attack by detaining members of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Jalalabad, who intended to launch attacks during the New Year celebrations.
The detainees were recruited via the internet and were planning to deploy homemade explosive devices near the main New Year tree in the central square of Jalalabad. They also aimed to conduct an armed assault on a church in the city, following directives from ISKP representatives.
During the operation, indisputable evidence concerning the attack plot was discovered, including communications with the terrorist organization’s emissaries, an action plan, instructions for creating homemade explosives, and video recordings featuring an oath of allegiance to the ISKP leader.
