TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan's State Security Service (DXX) and its Interior Ministry have detained a group of alleged members of a banned Islamic group in the Tashkent region.
In a joint statement on November 23, the DXX and the ministry said those detained are suspected of being members of Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a group that was labeled as terrorist and banned in the Central Asian nation in 2016. It did not reveal the exact number of detainees or their identities.
According to the statement, the individuals were allegedly involved in propagating the teaching of the banned group by distributing video and audio materials. They are also accused of raising money for the group and recruiting Uzbek nationals for the group's illegal armed units in Syria.
Authorities in the predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic have said that thousands of Uzbek citizens have joined different Islamist militant groups in Syria and Iraq in recent years.
Uzbek Authorities Detain Alleged Members Of Banned Islamic Group
Uzbekistan has said that thousands of its citizens have joined different Islamist militant groups in Syria and Iraq in recent years. (file photo)