BISHKEK -- A senior Kyrgyz official says 150 Kyrgyz nationals have been killed in Syria fighting on the side of Islamic militants since the beginning of the civil war in the Middle Eastern country in 2011.
Kanjarbek Bakaev, deputy head of Kyrgyzstan's Antiterrorist Center, told lawmakers in Bishkek on June 28 that an estimated total of 850 Kyrgyz citizens joined Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria in recent years.
Bakaev also said that investigations were launched into each Kyrgyz death in Syria.
Kyrgyz officials said earlier that some 600 Kyrgyz citizens had joined Islamic extremists in Syria, of whom 70 had been killed.
