A Kyrgyz national has been arrested in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk for suspected membership in the banned Islamic Party of Turkestan (IPT).
Interior Ministry officials in Chelyabinsk Province claimed the suspect had propagated the IPT’s ideas in several Russian provinces and that he will be deported from Russia back to Kyrgyzstan.
The IPT, which is also known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), is believed to have links to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.
The group says it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia.
It has been banned in Russia and Central Asian countries and is on the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Last week, four suspected members of the group were detained in the Siberian city of Tyumen.
Interior Ministry officials in Chelyabinsk Province claimed the suspect had propagated the IPT’s ideas in several Russian provinces and that he will be deported from Russia back to Kyrgyzstan.
The IPT, which is also known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), is believed to have links to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.
The group says it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia.
It has been banned in Russia and Central Asian countries and is on the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Last week, four suspected members of the group were detained in the Siberian city of Tyumen.
