500 Kyrgyz fighting for ISIS in Syria
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan say hundreds of nationals from the Central Asian country have joined the ranks of extremist militant groups operating in Syria.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, Bishkek, on Friday, Kyrgyz Defense Council Secretary Temir Dzhumakadyrov said about 500 Kyrgyz citizens are currently fighting for militants in Syria.
He added that security forces have managed to detain 50 people who either fought in Syria for extremist groups or were planning to travel there to join such groups.
Rahim Salimov, the head of the 10th Main Department at Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry, announced in early September that 45 Kyrgyz citizens have been killed in Iraq and neighboring Syria while fighting for Daesh Takfiris.
According to an October 2014 report by the United Nations (UN) Security Council, 15,000 foreigners have flocked to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Daesh extremists or other foreign-sponsored terrorist groups.
Daesh militants control some parts of Iraq and Syria. The terrorists have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against all Iraqi and Syrian communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
The Syrian conflict, which started in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people and left over one million injured, according to the UN.
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