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Kazakh interior minister links Aqtobe Attacks To Syria
[RFE/RL] Kazakhstan's top law enforcement official says officials believe that suspects in deadly attacks on June 5 in the northwestern city of Aqtobe were instructed or inspired by a radical Islamist leader based in Syria.Interior Minister Qalmukhanbet Qasymov said on June 14 that around 45 people gathered in an Aqtobe apartment shortly before the attacks on two gun shops and a National Guard base. He said, "They heard an appeal from a so-called imam who told them to carry out a holy jihad and suggested that they act right now," adding that "the so-called imam apparently is from Syria." Authorities say the death toll in the attacks and subsequent police operations is 26, including the assailants. Qasymov said that the suspects had already been planning the attacks and "knew the potential targets, and knew how and where to go" before hearing the audio message before the attacks. He did not say whether the "so-called imam" was believed to be affiliated with Daesh or any other extremist group in Syria. Nazarbaev has said the attackers, whom he called members of "pseudo-religious radical movements," had received instructions from abroad. Kazakh officials say five civilians and three national guardsmen were killed in the attacks. The Committee for National Security has said that 18 suspected attackers have been killed by government security forces and nine arrested. Qasymov said that authorities have established that the aim of the Aqtobe attacks was to obtain sophisticated weapons and target government institutions. He said seven of the suspected attackers had been known to authorities because of previous criminal records, while media sources said one suspect -- Alibek Berdybaev -- had been linked to a 2011 suicide attack in Aqtobe. In December 2011, Berdybaev was found guilty of participating in a terrorist organization and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was sentenced along with 12 other defendants. Authorities say the suicide attack on May 17 was carried out by local man linked to Islamist extremists. They say the bomber was killed in that attack, which injured two other people. Posted by: ryuge 2016-06-15 |
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