Russian Police Detain Second Uzbek Wanted For Religious Extremism

Police in Russia have detained an Uzbek national suspected by Tashkent of being a religious extremist.

Law enforcement officials in the city of St. Petersburg said on March 23 that the 40-year-old man had been detained on the request of Uzbek authorities.

The man was detained on March 21, two days after police in an outskirt of St. Petersburg detained a 33-year-old Uzbek man from Uzbekistan's Samarkand region.

According to the Russian officials, Uzbek authorities suspect the two men of involvement in an “extremist religious, separatist, and fundamentalist group.”

At least one of the Uzbek men is suspected in being a member of the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, which is believed to have links to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Based on reporting by Interfax and konkretno.ru

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