BISHKEK (TCA) — Three members of the Islamic State (IS) international terrorist organization who arrived to conduct terrorist attacks have been convicted in Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the country’s State Committee for National Security said on August 10.
According to the State Committee, the three persons had been trained in Syria and Iraq and then transferred to Kyrgyzstan to organize and carry out terrorist attacks against civilians.
The Batken Regional Court in southern Kyrgyzstan sentenced the three to prison terms ranging between 12 and 15 years with the confiscation of their property. They were found guilty of several crimes in Kyrgyzstan, including “illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or possession of firearms, as well as ammunition and explosives,” “illegal crossing of the state border,” “falsification, sale or use of forged documents” and “incitement of inter-ethnic, racial, religious and other hostility.”
The National Security Committee confiscated from the three militants a Kalashnikov assault rifle, hand grenades, ammunition of various calibers, terrorist and extremist literature, and communication equipment.
According to official data, about 500 Kyrgyzstan citizens are currently fighting in the ranks of international terrorist organizations in Syria. About 45 Kyrgyzstan citizens have died there.
Kyrgyz National Security officials earlier said that 17 terrorist acts were prevented in Kyrgyzstan in 2016, eight terrorist groups were liquidated and 95 members of terrorist organizations were brought to justice.
