"Yesmurzayev, Kamatay, Kamalov and others, according to the indictment, went to Syria and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) terrorist organization (banned in Kazakhstan - KazTAG). (...) They supported the idea of armed jihad, ” said prosecutor Edil Murat at a court hearing.
According to him, the accused arrived in Syria through Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
“Yesmurzayev and others arrived in the region of Waziristan, Aleppo, the settlements of Raqqah, Sheikh-Suleiman. (...) They arrived there through Kyrgyzstan and Turkey with their families," he added.
He also said that the natives of Akmola, Pavlodar, Karaganda, Atyrau, Aktobe, Mangystau, East Kazakhstan, Turkestan regions arrived in Syria on the following flights Almaty - Istanbul, Bishkek - Istanbul, Karaganda - Istanbul, Aktau - Istanbul, Shymkent - Antalya and further illegally crossed the Turkish-Syrian state border to get into Syria. The citizens of Kazakhstan traveled to Syria also through Russia and Ukraine.
According to the prosecutor, "Kamalov was the emir of the United Kazakh Jamaat, monitored the provision of families of militants who arrived from Kazakhstan."
“They are accused of having learned how to use Kalashnikov assault rifles, Makarov pistols and RDG grenades, they are charged under Article 260 (undergoing terrorist or extremist training - KazTAG) of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan," reads the statement.
Some of the defendants are accused of preparing videos promoting terrorism.
Photo source: picture from an open source