19 people arrested on suspicion of terrorism in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, officers of the National Security Committee arrested 19 people who are suspected of committing terrorist crimes, including a terrorist attack. This was reported on the website of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It was mentioned that Tokayev met with Committee Chairman Yermek Sagimbayev, who reported to him on the prevention of terrorist crimes, on May 2.

“Based on these facts, 19 people were arrested. Yermek Sagimbayev said that in order to improve measures to counter terrorism threats, exercises and trainings were held under the coordination of the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorism Center,” the post says. The head of the security service also spoke about countering the operations of foreign intelligence in the country and combating crime.

Thus, since the beginning of the year, the Committee's staff members neutralized eight criminal groups and busted seven underground workshops that manufactured weapons. “268 weapons, 21 grenades and more than 30,000 pieces of ammunition were seized from illegal circulation. Besides, activities of 16 drug laboratories, 11 international and 17 regional drug channels have been thwarted,” the website says.