BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz officials say seven members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group have been detained in the Central Asian nation.
The Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security said in a statement on October 3 that the suspects were arrested after investigators found books and electronic devices with texts and other materials that had been deemed as extremist.
According to the experts, the materials in question were propagating the ideas of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is a global organization based in London that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate through peaceful means.
Kyrgyzstan banned the group in 2003, branding its supporters as extremists.