KAZAKHSTAN: ARREST OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALMATY 001586 SIPDIS SIPDIS SCA/CEN FOR JMUDGE; S/CT FOR MNORMAN/DFRANZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ARREST OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS Classified By: DCM MARK ASQUINO. REASON 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: In early April, Kazakhstani authorities arrested ten individuals accused of planning terrorist activities. This is the first such arrest in recent years in which the terrorist suspects were accused of targeting Kazakhstan. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) In early April, the Kazakhstani authorities arrested a group of alleged terrorists in Almaty and Almaty oblast (region). One hundred-twenty officers of the National Security Committee (KNB) and Interior Ministry were involved in the operation, which the press described as "unprecedented." Simultaneous searches of 18 locations were conducted with the cooperation of unidentified foreign police forces and intelligence agencies --it is unclear what foreign support was provided and by whom. Reportedly the searches found blueprints, explosives, plans to target crowded locations and important infrastructure sites, weapons, munitions, and literature and videos promoting extremism. Ten individuals were arrested, all Kazakhstani citizens. ¶3. (SBU) The Chief of the International Terrorism Department of the KNB Sergey Minenkov stated that this group was set up by a foreign terrorist organization and at least three of the members were trained abroad. He declined, however, to say with which international terrorist organization this group was affiliated. Reportedly, the terrorists' goals were to topple the Kazakhstani government and proclaim a caliphate. ¶4. (SBU) The suspects were charged with organization and participation in a gang, inflammation of religious hatred, and illegal possession of weapons and munitions. The KNB reported that along with the preparation for terrorist acts and the proliferation of radical religious ideology, the gang had orders from its leaders abroad to follow the sociopolitical situation in Kazakhstan and its relationship with neighboring states. It was also charged with compiling information on the situation with ethnic groups in the republic, and on the activities of the opposition. The Kazakhstanis have not commented on the specific locations targeted by the accused. ¶5. (C) Comment: This is the first incident in recent years of the arrest of suspected terrorist cell members who were planning to carry out attacks within Kazakhstan itself. It is significant that the cell was operating in Almaty rather than in the impoverished and radicalized areas of southern Kazakhstan near the Uzbek border. This could indicate that indigenous extremism is spreading, or at least that terrorists have shifted their operational base to the country's largest city. ORDWAY