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About 500 Kyrgyz citizens join terrorist groups in Syria

Among them, there are 122 women

SOCHI, November 11. /TASS/. About 500 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, including 122 women, are currently in Syria in the ranks of international terrorist groups, Kyrgyzstan’s Prosecutor-General Indira Joldubayeva said Wednesday. She was speaking at the 7th regional conference of the International Association of Prosecutors of Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries dedicated to combating terrorism and violent extremism that opened on Tuesday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"According to special services, about 500 Kyrgyz citizens are in Syria in the ranks of international terrorist organizations, among them 122 women," - she said.

"Over the past few years, more than 500 persons have been uncovered as a result of counter-terror measures, including foreign nationals involved in terrorist and religious and extremist groups. To date the activities of half of them have been terminated," Joldubayeva said. "More than 150 persons have been brought to trial or convicted. More than 60 members of international terrorist and religious and extremist groups have been put on the wanted list for terrorist and mercenary activities. As many as 47 persons have been identified, arrested and prosecuted who underwent subversive and terrorist training in Syria and Iraq and sent to our country and other Central Asian countries to organize terrorist attacks."

Furthermore, the activities of 8 transnational terrorist groups and more than 60 religious and extremist groups have been terminated during the preparation and perpetration of terrorist attacks.

In addition to that, three channels of smuggling recruits to the Turkish-Syrian area have been uncovered and terminated in Kyrgyzstan. "Currently, about 2,000 members of various religious, extremist and terrorist groups are registered across the country. For a country like Kyrgyzstan, which has a population of no more than 5 million people, these are impressive figures," Joldubayeva said.