OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Officials in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh have detained an alleged member of a banned Islamic group.
Officials said the 37-year-old resident of Aksy district was detained on February 4 on suspicion of being an active member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the government branded an extremist organization and banned several years ago.
Authorities in the Central Asian nation say the group plays a role in a strategy used by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants to radicalize youth and recruit them to fight in Syria and Iraq.
Hizb ut-Tahrir says it is peaceful.
On February 3, a 26-year-old man was arrested in Osh on suspicion of being a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
The IMU, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations.
It is believed to have links with Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
