Jund al Khilafah Targets Kazakhstan

http://www.criticalthreats.org/other/zarif-jund-al-khilafah-targets-kazakhstan-november-15-2011 By Maseh ZarifNovember 15, 2011

On October 31, a militant Islamist group acting on a previously issued threat against the Kazakh government launched an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in western Kazakhstan.[1] The attack portends the potential emergence of a hitherto unknown terrorist network operating in Kazakhstan as part of the global jihad movement.

The al Zahir Baibars Battalion (ZBB) of Jund al Khilafah (JaK) claimed responsibility for the October 31 attack in Atyrau, which targeted provincial government installations.[2] Both the “battalion” that carried out the attack against President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s government, ZBB, and the broader umbrella group, JaK, have surfaced in recent months. JaK, also identified as “Kateeba Jund al Khilafah,” released in September and October 2011 two videos of a rocket attack it claimed to have conducted on an American military base in Khost, Afghanistan on July 11.[3] In late October, the ZBB issued its first direct threat against the Kazakh government. In the video statement, delivered in Russian with Arabic subtitles, the group said, “We direct our message to the government of Kazakhstan about the recent incidents in the west of the country, and about the new laws that ban the headscarf and prayer. We call upon you to abolish these laws, and we also demand that you offer an apology to the people for that mistake.”[4] Ten days later, the group launched the Atyrau attack, citing it as a warning to the government and vowing to initiate more violence in the future.[5]

Although the October 31 attack is the first attributed to the ZBB wing of JaK, several Islamist terror attacks have been reported across Kazakhstan this year. In May, the first suicide bomber in Kazakhstan infiltrated the state security services office in the northwestern city of Aqtobe.[6] In July, a group of militants attacked a police checkpoint in the same region, killing several policemen.[7] On November 12, a suicide bomber killed five security services members and two civilians before detonating an explosives vest in southern Kazakhstan near the Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan borders.[8] There were no terrorist attacks reported in Kazakhstan during 2010 by comparison.[9]

Rawil Kusaynov is the emir of the ZBB, but it is unclear who leads the JaK. Local authorities in Kazakhstan have said that JaK’s Kazakh leadership is based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.[10] Kusaynov has refused to name the overall JaK leader in interviews, but he has discussed the group’s ideology and its role in the broader jihad movement. JaK, according to Kusaynov, “is a group of mujahideen of different nationalities united by the desire to work together to support the causes of Muslims and to remove oppression from them everywhere. Their goal is to empower Islam and break the backs of the oppressors from amongst the rulers and the disbelieving powers that occupy the lands of Muslims. The Brigade is composed of several battalions, most of which work in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world.”[11] Kusaynov also identified Central Asia, Yemen, and North Africa as the future core of the Islamic caliphate that the broader jihadist movement seeks to establish. Kusaynov has said that his ZBB “battalion,” consisting mostly of Kazakh fighters, is operationally oriented toward Kazakhstan but

maintains “many military activities on the fighting lines in Afghanistan in collaboration with the rest of the [JaK] battalions.”[12] Kusaynov has not identified which particular terrorist groups active inside Afghanistan the JaK is collaborating with.

In 2006, the Kazakh government updated its list of banned terrorist organizations to include several regional and international groups, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and Hizb ut Tahrir.[13] Hizb ut Tahrir, which has followers in Kazakhstan, has adopted “anti-Semitic, anti-Western ideology” and “has publicly called on Muslims to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight Coalition Forces.”[14] The IMU, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group active in Afghanistan, has previously operated in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, although Kazakh authorities detained a network of militants inside Kazakhstan in 2004 belonging to an IMU splinter group, the Islamic Jihad Union.[15] It remains to be seen the extent to which the recent spate of attacks and increased militancy in Kazakhstan have operational links to the broader network of terrorist groups operating in Central Asia and South Asia.  

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Police: Taraz suicide bomber was acting alone Tuesday, 15.11.2011, 11:26

http://en.tengrinews.kz/crime/5630/

Taraz oblast police denies that 34-year-old Maksat Kariyev who killed 7 people last Saturday, including 5 officers of law-enforcement authorities, was acting with accomplices, KazTAG reports.

“He was acting alone all the time. We recorded his whole route. We questioned all the people who saw him or whom he hijacked cars from. He was wearing a noticeable coverall, blue with a strip. We even know where he got this coverall from. So, he was not very different from other people by his look,” deputy head of investigation department of Interior Department of Zhambyl oblast Marat Kozhayev said.

He noted that this fact is confirmed by video surveillance cameras that recorded the criminal in the blue coverall, as well as the testimonies of the witnesses, whom he hijacked cars from.

“Initially there was a taxi driver in a car with the criminal. He tied him up and drove the car for some time and then left it,” Kozhayev said.

Kozhayev did not confirm the information that appeared on the Internet that Kariyev had accomplices who left the crime site with guns and weapons heading towards Karatau village.

“It is not true. There was no accomplices on Mercedes next to the criminal. There were no accomplices in the areas where he moved,” the speaker said.

At the same time Kozhayev did not fully deny that Kariyev could have some accomplices who helped him prepare. “We are not denying yet that he could have accomplices who probably helped him to get the guns. We are currently investigating where the criminal got the grenade launcher from. But the active part of the attack was made by him alone,” he said.

As for the personality of the criminal, Kozhayev said that he was unemployed and drank a lot of alcohol. “Despite of his supposedly adherence to jihadism, he used to drink alcohol a lot, which is confirmed by witnesses. People say that he also used to swear a lot,” Kozhayev said.

Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that 7 people were killed during the terrorist attck in Taraz, including 3 policemen and 2 officers of the National Security Commission. 34-year-old Maksat Kariyev, who, as per the General Prosecusion office, was a jihadist, committed several heavy crimes in Taraz on November 12.

Kariyev made an armed assault killing two officers of the National Security Committee who were on outdoor surveillance mission tracking Kariyev. Earlier, at about 11 in the morning, he had assaulted an owner of Mazda 626 car Mr. Zakirov: threatening him with a gun he took possession of his car. At 11:35 a.m. Kariyev made an armed assault on an arms shop killing the shop’s guard Mr. Fedorchenko and mortally wounding the shops occasional visitor N. E. Orazbasov. He took two guns (Saiga and CZ) and some rounds from the shop.

Then he took possession of VAZ 21099 car killing two special security officers: police sergeants P.K. Ayamkulov and J. A. Baiseitov. He took their service weapons: Kalashnikov gun and Makarov gun.

Besides, he drove to the regional Department of the National Security Committee and made one shot from the grenade launcher and several bursts from the automatic weapons aiming at the walls and windows of the building. The shots caused no victims of destructions. On his way away from the shooting site at 12:45 a.m. Kariyev wounded two officers of mounted patrol.

At about 1:00 p.m. the criminal was wounded and apprehended by officers of road police battalion. During the attempt to neutralize him Kariyev blew himself up killing the commander of the platoon Captain G. Baitason on the spot.

A criminal case on terrorism and murder charges has been initiated. Special interdepartmental investigation group led by the Minister of Internal Affairs is investigating the incident. Tags: Kazakh, Kazakhstan, news, Taraz, terrorism

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Kazakhstan verifying claims of Taraz terrorist's grenade launcher purchase in Kyrgyzstanhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=287364

ASTANA. Nov 15 (Interfax) - The terrorist who killed seven people and blew himself up in Taraz had been under the scrutiny of Kazakhstan's special services, Kazakh Interior Minister Kalmukhanbet Kasymov, who heads the investigation into the incident, told journalists on Tuesday.

"The National Security Committee worked on his case," he said.

"The president has instructed me to investigate these issues. We are now looking into both [the terrorist's] actions and how all of our officers handled the situation, including the National Security Committee. We cannot offer any conclusions yet. They will be made public after this investigation is completed," the minister said.

Investigators are also verifying reports claiming that the terrorist purchased the RPG-26 grenade launcher he used to attack the National Security Committee's building in Taraz in Kyrgyzstan, Kasymov said.

"This information is being verified. The grenade launcher is marked," he said.

Law enforcement agencies are "taking all of the measures needed to prevent similar incidents," the minister said.

"We are monitoring the situation at all of the strategic, vital facilities," he said.

Five officers of law enforcement agencies and two local residents were killed and three more policemen were injured as a result of an arms store robbery, a shootout and an explosion staged by a 34-year-old suicide bomber in Taraz, Kazakhstan, last Saturday.

tm jv

(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

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Militants Escalate Terrorist Attacks In Kazakhstanhttp://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=38672&cHash=8f065b922eef3966afc8c63b7b157da0

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 211November 15, 2011 04:03 PM Age: 2 days

By: Farkhad Sharip

Kazakhstan, once depicted as an island of stability invulnerable to the encroachments of Islamist extremists is no longer a safe place in turbulent Central Asia. Over the last seven months the Muslim-dominated country was shaken by a series of terrorist attacks in several cities in western and southern Kazakhstan.

On the morning of November 12, shootings and bomb blasts threw the residents of the city of Taraz, home to 352,500 people in Zhambyl region (southern Kazakhstan) into panic. Eyewitnesses told journalists that at about 9:30 a.m., an unidentified man broke into a gun shop killing a guard, a shop assistant and a customer before escaping with firearms and ammunition. Several minutes later shots and explosions were heard at the regional government office located nearby.

Local authorities did not comment on the incident. However, later in the day, the Deputy Prosecutor-General Nurmakanbet Isaev briefed journalists and said that the attack was carried out by Maksut Kariev, an Islamic militant. Correcting the figure earlier given by the interior ministry, Isaev stated that the terrorist had killed seven people, including two National Security Committee (KNB) agents who had tried to detain him. Kariev blew himself up and in the process he killed one police officer. The deputy prosecutor-general could not contain his irritation with Internet and social network resources for “misinforming” the public and “reporting that there were four explosions, but in fact there was only one.” At the same time he admitted that law enforcement bodies were slow to comment on the attack, adding that they needed time to assess the situation to avoid panicking the local population (RIA Novosti Kazakhstan, November 12).

Kazakh authorities have long denied the existence of terrorist organizations in Kazakhstan and even excluded the possibility of an extremist attack. On May 17, this year, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the KNB office in Aktobe region, injuring four security officers, and the authorities refused to acknowledge that the incident was an act of terrorism. In July, they were equally reluctant to link the killing of two policemen and shootouts in the Shubarshi and Kenkiyak settlements in that same region to terrorism. But a similar attack occurred in Almaty on November 9, when two policemen were killed by gunfire from a passing car. Interior Ministry officials indirectly admitted “the possibility of a terrorist attack” (KTK TV, November 9).

The clearest admission of the existence of a terrorist organization in Kazakhstan came on November 8, from the Prosecutor-General’s Office, after bomb explosions in the city of Atyrau on October 31, perpetrated by Islamic extremist militants belonging to the Jund al Halifat (Soldiers of the Caliphate) terrorist organization (see EDM, November 11). The Soldiers of the Caliphate, which propagates the militant ideas of Aleksandr Tikhomirov (a convert to Islam with an adopted name Said Buryatsky, killed in North Caucasus in March 2009) was founded in Kazakhstan by Rinat Habiulla. His typically Tatar name points to the multiethnic nature of that organization. Ravil Kusainov, one of the leaders of the Soldiers of the Caliphate, also bears a Tatar name, and in an interview to Minbar Media Project he said his organization consists of nationals from different countries. He called on his supporters of different national origins “to draw lessons from the Arab Spring and get rid of their governments” (www.vesti.kz, November 10).

Ravil Kusainov’s militant rhetoric came immediately after the briefing held by Nurdaulet Suindikov on November 9, a spokesman for the Prosecutor-General’s Office, who stated that the double explosions in Atyrau were being thoroughly investigated while revealing the names of the suspects: Mirhat Kalkamanov, Alimzhan Sagenov and Meirambek Usabayev. But it is obviously too early for law enforcement bodies to claim any victory. The Kazakhstan cell of the Soldiers of the Caliphate are known to have established contacts with extremist organizations in Afghanistan in September 2011, and key figures, Rinat Habidulla, Orynbasar Munatov and Damir Znaliev are hiding in the border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan and taking part in combat operations against NATO forces in Afghanistan from Khost province in coordination with the Haqqani group of Taliban militants (Ak Zhaik, November 4).

There are several factors that explain the sudden surge of religious extremism in Kazakhstan. In May of this year, the first warning came from the Taliban who accused Kazakhstan of supporting NATO forces in Afghanistan. An Internet website carried a threat by the Soldiers of the Caliphate, who demanded the repeal of the new religious law signed on October 13 by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. It appears that Islamist extremists are not only targeting the power structures, trying to frustrate government institutions, but also they are attempting to disrupt economic ties between Kazakhstan and western companies. In oil-producing Atyrau, according to statistics released by the regional government (akimat) foreign investments in 2010 reached 72.5 percent of the total investment volume in the region.

The proximity of Atyrau to Astrakhan region in Russia, easily accessible for Chechen rebel fighters, also plays a role in spreading ideas of Jihad to Kazakhstan. Experts note the similarity of the methods and tactics of the Soldiers of the Caliphate in Kazakhstan to those used by Islamist militants in Dagestan, who target the police force and government structures. But so far, the response from the authorities in Kazakhstan to the escalating terrorist crisis is far from adequate.

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Nursultan Nazarbayev pledges to deal with terrorist attack in Taraz http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/5634/

Tuesday, 15.11.2011, 14:01Nursultan Nazarbayev promised to deal with the terrorist attack in Taraz, Tengrinews.kz reports citing official website of Kazakhstan President. On November 14 the President held a meeting on countering religious extremism and terrorism.

“The state has all capabilities, powers, professionalism and abilities to suppress any manifestation of terrorism against Kazakhstan. I am also calling all the Kazakhstan residents to stay vigilant. In case of noticing any such manifestations, I am calling the residents to immediately inform law-enforcement authorities. We will deal with what happened in Taraz and enhance our work in all directions,” the President said.

The meeting was attended by Prime-Minister Karim Massimov, Secretary of State Kanat Saudabayev, head of the President's administration Aslan Mussin, chairman of

the Supreme Court Bektas Beknazarov, adviser to the President, secretary of the Security Council Marat Tazhin, General Prosecutor Askhat Daulbayev, chairman of the National Security Commission Nurtai Abykayev, director of Syrbar Foreign Intelligence Service Amanzhol Zhankuliyev, Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, Interior Minister Kalmukhanbet Kassymov and Justice Minister Rashid Tusupbekov.

The President emphasized that police and officers of other law-enforcement authorities showed a good example of serving the State and showed real heroism. The President expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that terrorism manifests itself in many countries of the world, including safe Europe, and Kazakhstan is not an exception.

The meeting included the reports of heads of law-enforcement authorities. Upon completion of the meeting the President gave several instructions.

Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that the terrorist attack happened in Taraz on November 12. 7 people fell victims of the crime, five of them were police officers. The criminal blew himself up during apprehension.

For more information see: http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/5634/Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz

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Taraz suicide bomber consulted Imam prior to attack

http://en.tengrinews.kz/crime/5602/

Monday, 14.11.2011, 11:32

Prior to the terrorist attack that killed 7 people in Taraz, suicide bomber talked to Muslim religious leaders about what would happen to him if he blows himself up against infidels, Tengrinews.kz reports citing deputy head of investigation department of Interior Department of Zhambyl oblast Marat Kozhayev.

“This version (about involvement in jihadism) appeared when during investigation we received information that living in Kokshetau Kariyev applied to representatives of religious authorities for an explanation of what would be his fate if he blows himself up and kills infidels. This information is being checked,” Kozhayev said.

He also noted that Kariyev used a self-made shell-less bomb that was under his clothes in the area of his abdomen. “He was planning a murder of our officers. Instead of running from them, he went towards the police car that followed him and opened fire. Both

officers were wounded. Captain Baitassov had a penetrating chest wound. He dived onto the criminal, made him fall down and tried to stop him physically. At that moment the criminal triggered the bomb blowing himself up. Our captain Baitassov was a hero, he was a police squard commander,” deputy head of investigation department said.

Besides, it was officially stated at the press-conference in Taraz on November 13 that the criminal was acting alone. Law-enforcement authorities cannot say whether Kariyev had any accomplices. “Nobody can say anything in the beginning of the investigation. We are working on Kariyev's connections, his family, friends, and trying to identify the reasons for suicide bombing,” Kozhayev said.

Three police officers have been wounded, two of them are currently in the hospital.

For more information see: http://en.tengrinews.kz/crime/5602/Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz

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Taraz terrorist was a good rifleman in army

http://en.tengrinews.kz/crime/5604/

Monday, 14.11.2011, 12:20

Terrorist Kariyev who killed 7 people in Taraz used to be a senior rifleman in the army, Tengrinews.kz reports citing deputy head of investigation department of Interior Department of Zhambyl oblast Marat Kozhayev.

According to him, the man gained shooting skills during military service in the armed forced of Kazakhstan, where he used to be a senior rifleman. After completion of the service he did not study anywhere and did not have constant job or place residency. Kozhayev noted that Kariyev had earlier tried to get access to arms by trying to get a job of a security officer, but failed.

“Kariyev had an uneven temper, used to swear a lot, he was cruel, disordered in decision-making and had criminal tendencies,” Koyaev said during press-conference in Taraz on November 13. “Groundless crimes committed by him against average citizens and officers of law-enforcement authorities confirm the stated features of his character,” he added.

Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that a terrorist attack happened in Taraz on November 12. 7 people fell victims of the attacker, five of them were police officers. The criminal blew himself up during apprehension.

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Kazakh President: Any manifestation of terrorism to be suppressed

http://en.trend.az/regions/casia/kazakhstan/1956979.html

14 November 2011, 18:08 (GMT+04:00)

Kazakhstan, Astana, Nov. 14 / Trend K. Konyrova /

The state has all the opportunities, power, professionalism, ability to suppress any manifestation of terrorism, which is committed against Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said while opening a meeting on counter-terrorism in Akorda today.

"I also urge all Kazakh people to be vigilant," the president said. "If these facts are revealed, one should immediately inform the appropriate law enforcement bodies. We will consider this fact and strengthen the work on all directions.

By opening the meeting, the President stressed that several serious crimes were committed in the city of Taraz last Saturday. The offender has committed an armed assault on the employees of the law enforcement bodies. They killed two members of the national security committee, three police officers and two civilians.

The President stressed that the police officers and members of other law enforcement bodies showed a worthy example of serving to the Fatherland, and showed true heroism. The offender was injured by employees of the separate battalion of traffic police. He blew himself up during the detention. As a result, police captain Baitasov made a heroic feat, by covering an offender who blew himself up. Thus, he prevented massive death toll.

"First of all, I want to express my deepest condolences to the families and relatives of the victims," he said. "We share their grief. I instruct Interior Minister and local executive bodies of the region to create the necessary conditions for families, children of the victims and to fully support them."Akorda's press-release said that dead members of the law enforcement bodies, who showed true heroism, will be marked by state awards.A criminal case was filed under the articles of "terrorism" and "murder." A special investigative group headed by Interior Minister Kalmuhanbet Kasimov was created to investigate all the facts. The group must conduct a thorough investigation."President Nazarbayev said that terrorism takes place in many countries, including prosperous Europe," the press-release said. "Kazakhstan is not an exception."The reports of the heads of law enforcement bodies were heard at the meeting.After the meeting the President gave specific instructions.

Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az

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Taraz jihadist could have bought grenade launcher in Kyrgyzstan http://en.tengrinews.kz/crime/5629/

Monday, 14.11.2011, 20:51Jihadist Kariyev who killed 7 people in Taraz could have bought the grenade launcher in of one the neighboring countries, Kyrgyzstan in particular. This is one of the versions of the law-enforcement authorities of Zhambyl oblast that deputy head of investigation department of Interior Department of Zhambyl oblast Marat Kozhayev spoke about to Tengrinews.kz.

“We are currently checking all the information and trying to define where the weapons and grenade launcher in particular are coming from. Everyone understands, that police has no such weapons, such grenade launchers are used in the army. It could have been brought from Kyrgyzstan. I cannot make any statements yet, this is just an assumption,” Kozhayev said.

He also said that the investigation of the terrorist attack in Taraz is led by Kazakhstan General Prosecution office. The criminal case is processed by a special group. Kozhayev noted that Interior Department appointed the most experienced investigators and operative officers to head the special group. The National Security Department will also appoint its officers. “The investigation will be controlled by General Prosecutor and Interior Minister. A powerful investigation group has been formed up,” the speaker stated.

Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that the terrorist attack happened in Taraz on November 12. 7 people fell victims of the crime, five of them were police officers. The criminal blew himself up during apprehension.

Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan National Security Commission is checking a criminal group for involvement in the terrorist attack on November 12 in Taraz. The group was eliminated on October 8-9 in Kara-Suu town of Kyrgyzstan. The day before Kyrgyzstan police apprehended a man with self-made bombs, grenades, sawn-off guns and components for making a bomb.Tags: jihad, Kazakh, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, news, Taraz, terrorism Views: 142    Comments: 0 Print

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Taraz terrorism toll rises to 7Government concedes attack was terrorist act

http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/main/2011/11/14/feature-02

By Aleksandr Bogatik and Timur Nazarov

2011-11-14

TARAZ – One man’s terrorism rampage November 12 in Taraz, the capital of Zhambyl Oblast, left seven people dead, including five police officers, and two policemen in the hospital.

Police identified the culprit as Kazakhstani citizen Maksat Kariyev, born in 1977 in Lugov District, Zhambyl Oblast, and described him as a jihadist. At 11am November 12, he killed two National Security Committee (KNB) agents who had been observing him on suspicion of terrorism links. Kariyev stole a Mazda automobile, throwing out the driver, and headed for a local gun store near the office of the tax police.

At 11.35am, according to the Kazakhstani general prosecutor’s office, he attacked the store, shooting to death a store security guard named V. Fedorchenko and a bystander named N. E. Orazbasov.

Once inside the store, Kariyev seized two semi-automatic Saiga carbines and ammunition, Deputy Kazakhstani General Prosecutor Nurmakhanbet Isayev said November 14. Then as he left, he stole a second unoccupied car.

“Police sergeants (Polat) Ayankulov and (Zhaksybek) Baiseitov began following the car,” Isayev said. “The car came to a sudden halt. … Kariyev ran out of it and opened fire, killing both sergeants. He took an AK-47 and a Makarov pistol from (them).”

Kariyev sped home to grab an RPG-26 grenade launcher and returned downtown, the prosecutor’s office said. He launched one grenade and fired an automatic weapon at the windows and walls of the Oblast KNB building, according to the KNB. No casualties were reported.

Kariyev fled the crime scene and at 12.45pm wounded two mounted police officers. At about 1pm on Tole Street, police officers shot and wounded him. Police platoon commander Capt. Gaziz Baitasov tried to arrest Kariyev, tackling and restraining him with their arms.

“The criminal succeeded in blowing himself up, killing himself and the policeman,” Isayev said. “The explosion occurred very close to the oblast administration building.”

Baitasov sacrificed self

“(Baitasov) absorbed practically the whole explosion himself,” said Marat Kozhayev, deputy chief of the Zhambyl Oblast Department of Internal Affairs (DVD). “He smothered (the blast) and saved his comrades and bystanders.”

Baitasov has been nominated for a posthumous award, said Roza Kaldybekova, oblast DVD spokeswoman. The two wounded policemen are in the hospital, she added.

“The area where the killings and explosion took place was cordoned off by police,” she said. “For several hours, helicopters with their sirens turned on flew over the city.”

Internal Affairs Minister Kulmukhanbet Kasymov came to Taraz to personally lead an investigation, she added.

Isayev called the Taraz episode a terrorist act. Kariyev and the crime’s organisers were linked to the late North Caucasus terrorist leader Said Buryatsky’s group, according to the general prosecutor’s office.

However, other authorities and law enforcement agencies issued a statement saying that Kariyev likely acted alone from extremist motives. Information on the crime awaits confirmation from the ongoing investigation.

“(Kariyev) himself several times was called a fierce supporter of jihadism, even though he was often seen drunk and swearing,” said Kanat Bozumbayev, the akim, or governor, of Zhambyl Oblast. “It’s hard to call him a religious person in the classical sense of the word.”

Security strengthened

In reaction to the Taraz terrorist act, authorities have tightened security on the border, according to a KNB statement.

“The police of Zhambyl and neighbouring Southern Kazakhstan Oblast have gone on high alert and have taken necessary security measures,” Kaldybekova said.

The crime was Kazakhstan’s second terrorist act in two weeks. Two October 31 explosions in Atyrau were deemed terrorism.

Kariyev acted quickly and professionally during his rampage, said eyewitness Samira D., a Taraz resident.

“I was frightened when all this was happening and lay on the ground,” she said. “But I saw him shooting and aiming; it was obvious, he did it very purposefully.”

“(We’ve) established that during his time in the army Kariyev was a senior rifleman in his unit and had excellent marksmanship skills,” the DVD said in a statement.

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Islamist militant kills seven in attack in Kazakh city

By Robin Paxton | Reuters – 1 hr 53 mins ago

  http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-kazakh-city-taraz-hurt-ifax-081351402.htmlALMATY (Reuters) - An Islamist militant killed seven people in running battles with

security forces in a southern Kazakh city on Saturday, the latest in a series of attacks on the oil-producing state that was long seen as the most peaceful in Central Asia.

The prosecutor-general's office said a 34-year-old "follower of jihadism" killed four members of the security forces and two civilians in gun battles in the city of Taraz. He blew himself up when cornered, killing another policeman.

A string of blasts and shootouts, including one last month claimed by a hitherto unknown Islamist militant group, has unnerved the authorities and public of the former Soviet republic, a mainly Muslim nation of nearly 17 million.

A local resident of Taraz told Reuters that he heard the sound of explosions and gunfire in the center of the city, about 550 km (350 miles) west of Almaty, Kazakhstan's financial center and biggest city.

"We never thought that this kind of thing could happen here," said the resident, who did not want to be identified.

The prosecutor-general's office said a man it identified as M.K. Kariyev killed two members of the National Security Committee who had him under surveillance, before embarking on a spree of violence.

He raided a weapons store, killing a security guard and fatally wounding a visitor before escaping with two semi-automatic rifles, the office said.

It said the assailant hijacked a car and shot dead two policemen in pursuit, before collecting a grenade launcher from his home and shooting at the local building of the National Security Committee, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

The suspect later blew himself up when apprehended, killing a police officer who was attempting to disarm him. A further three police officers were injured in the attacks.

Television footage showed dead bodies lying on the street and police inspecting damaged cars. A semi-automatic rifle was visible on the front passenger seat of one car and an injured police horse was receiving treatment.

The Emergencies Ministry in Zhambyl region, of which Taraz is the capital, said it had no reports of any people wounded.

MILITANT THREAT

Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest and most successful economy, had until this year not witnessed the outbursts of Islamist militancy seen in other parts of the former Soviet region that lies north of Afghanistan.

Authorities officially ruled out any link to Islamist militancy when a man blew himself up

in May at the offices of the National Security Committee in the northwestern city of Aktobe, killing only himself.

But after other unexplained shootouts and bombings, followed by the arrest of 18 people in the oil-hub city of Atyrau in August on suspicion of planning "acts of terror," Kazakhstan adopted a new religion law last month.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan as a secular republic since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has backed the law -- which bans prayer rooms in state buildings -- as a means of stamping out religious extremism.

A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) threatened violence in a video message shortly before claiming responsibility for two blasts in Atyrau on October 31. The suspected bomber was killed.

The prosecutor-general's office said this week that the group was responsible for the Atyrau blasts and had linked up with a militant cell formed in 2009 to carry out the bombings.

The prosecutor's office said on November 9 that the Kazakh nationals who founded the group were hiding on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(Additional reporting Dmitry Solovyov, Maria Gordeyeva and Olga Orininskaya; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

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Blast, gun battle kill at least 5 in Kazakh city

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/12/us-kazakhstan-blast-idUSTRE7AB08220111112

By Robin Paxton

ALMATY | Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:26am EST

(Reuters) - An explosion and a gun battle killed five people in a southern Kazakh city on Saturday, following a threat by Islamist militants to carry out attacks in the oil-producing state that was long seen as the most peaceful in Central Asia.

A recent series of blasts and shootouts, including one claimed by Islamist militants, has unnerved the authorities and public of the former Soviet republic, a mainly Muslim nation of nearly 17 million.

A local resident of the city of Taraz told Reuters that he heard the sound the of explosions and gunfire in the center of the city, about 550 km (350 miles) west of Almaty, Kazakhstan's financial center and biggest city.

"We never thought that this kind of thing could happen here," said the resident, who did not want to be identified. He said many people had been wounded and that the city center had been cordoned off.

Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry said in a statement that an unidentified man had raided an arms store in Taraz on Saturday morning, killing a security guard before escaping in a car with two Saiga semi-automatic rifles.

Two policemen were killed during a subsequent pursuit, before the assailant blew himself up outside a store in the city center, killing one more traffic policeman, the ministry said in the statement. It did not identify the assailant.

Earlier reports by local news agencies had said at least one blast had occurred outside the building of the National Security Committee, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

Interfax news agency cited its correspondent at the scene as saying he had seen police removing a body in a black bag.

MILITANT THREAT

Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest and most successful economy, had until this year not witnessed the outbursts of Islamist militancy seen in other parts of the former Soviet region that lies north of Afghanistan.

Authorities officially ruled out any link to Islamist militancy when a man blew himself up in May at the offices of the National Security Committee in the northwestern city of Aktobe, killing only himself.

But after other unexplained shootouts and bombings, followed by the arrest of 18 people in the oil-hub city of Atyrau in August on suspicion of planning "acts of terror," Kazakhstan adopted a new religion law last month.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan as a secular republic since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has backed the law -- which bans prayer rooms in state buildings -- as a means of stamping out religious extremism.

Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate), a hitherto unknown militant group, threatened violence in a video message shortly before claiming responsibility for two blasts in Atyrau on October 31. The suspected bomber was killed.

The prosecutor-general's office said this week that the group was responsible for the Atyrau blasts and had linked up with a militant cell formed in 2009 to carry out the bombings.

The prosecutor's office said on November 9 that the Kazakh nationals who founded the group were hiding on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan

(Reporting by Robin Paxton, Dmitry Solovyov and Maria Gordeyeva; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

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Is Kazakhstan Threatened By Islamic Terrorists?http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=38654&cHash=3ba10475466df69fa9c9a9d6918dccc7

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 209November 11, 2011 12:18 PM Age: 4 daysBy: Birgit Brauer

Kazakh police in the western Atyrau oblast have arrested three men in connection with two bomb explosions in the downtown area of the city of Atyrau, the “oil capital” of Kazakhstan, on October 31. They have made full confessions, said the Prosecutor-General’s office on Wednesday. The blasts, immediately classified as a terrorist act by officials, took place near administrative buildings causing minor damage. The second bomb went off prematurely killing the suspected bomber, 23-year-old Bauyrzhan Sultangaliyev.

The four men formed a terrorist cell in 2009 inspired by the ideas of jihadists, including the well-known extremist Said Buryatsky, said the Prosecutor-General’s office. Buryatsky (Aleksandr Tikhomirov), one of the chief ideologues of the armed resistance in the North Caucasus, was killed in March 2010 in Ingushetia by Russian security forces. In September, they established contact with the militant Islamist group Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate), set up this past summer by three Kazakhstani citizens based in the Afghan-Pakistani border region.

The leader of Jund al-Khilafah, Rinat Khabidulla, demanded in an online video a few days before the explosions that Kazakhstan repeal its recently passed new law on religion, which bans prayer rooms in state buildings and restricts the activity of unauthorized religious groups. The law was rushed through parliament after President Nursultan Nazarbayev had acknowledged in a speech on September 1 that there is extremism in the country and vowed to tackle it. It was adopted in mid-October.

The explosions “were just a warning to the government,” according to a statement released on jihadist forums signed by the “Al Zahir Baibars Battalion” of the Jund al-Khilafah Brigade. (www.longwarjournal.org, Oct 31).

These blasts have caused anxiety and triggered a lively public debate about whether Islamist terrorism has really reached the remote and up to now relatively peaceful steppes of Kazakhstan. Opinions are divided. A series of violent incidents since spring, including deadly clashes between security forces and armed men in western Kazakhstan and the country’s first-ever suicide bombing in Aktobe, another western city, in May,

have left many people puzzling about what is going on. In the absence of clear explanations from the authorities – at least until the president’s remarks – speculation rose about whether these events were related to Islamic extremism, organized crime, or both.

Religious leaders in Kazakhstan have stressed that the men involved in shootouts with the authorities over the summer, which had raised concerns about growing militancy, are criminals and not religious extremists.

Sergei Duvanov, one of Kazakhstan’s most prominent political commentators, has his doubts about the existence of Jund al-Khilafah, an organization previously unknown in Kazakhstan. He sees three possible roles for this group in the Atyrau explosions. First, he said, there may be no such organization at all, but a construct of Kazakhstan’s special services solely aimed at whipping up fear among the population. Russia’s leadership has demonstrated how fear of terrorism can be translated into strengthening one’s power, he says. Second, the organization exists and has used the opportunity to claim responsibility for the blasts organized by the special services on behalf of the authorities. Third, Jund al-Khilafah has indeed carried out the explosions (Respublika, November 1).

Only time will tell which one of these variants is true, he said. In any case, the people of Kazakhstan have been given a scare, which may have an impact on the outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held sometime in 2012.   

Marat Shibutov, expert of the Association of Border Cooperation, believes that terrorism in Kazakhstan is home-grown and attracts young “social losers,” come of age in the post-independence period, with few opportunities. “No outside power has any interest in destabilizing Kazakhstan,” he says. Technically, these terrorists are poorly prepared. Religion is a factor.

Interest in Islam is clearly on the rise. Following independence, there were only 68 mosques in the country, compared to 2,350 mosques today. Out of Kazakhstan’s 16.5 million people, 72 percent are formally considered followers of Islam and 25 percent of the Russian Orthodoxy. These figures might actually be somewhat inflated. There is a tendency to count virtually all ethnic Kazakhs as well as ethnic Uighurs and Uzbeks in the country automatically as Muslims.

The knowledge of Islam is generally underdeveloped. Kazakhstan’s formerly nomadic people have never been fervent adherers to the faith. Seventy years of Communist rule and ideology did its bit to even alienate many from Islam. The breakup of the Soviet Union has led to a steady revival of religion in this multi-ethnic country, especially among the young in search of identity and values. Western Kazakhstan is seen as more susceptible to Islamic influence than other parts of the country due to its closeness to the North Caucasus where radical Islam has flourished.

Following 9/11, Kazakhstan has at times been used by individual Islamists as a place of retreat, for rest and relief, to be treated for their wounds, and to meet with their families. The country had so far not been a target for Islamic attacks.

Kazakhstani analysts see dissatisfaction over the socio-economic situation in oil-rich Kazakhstan and corruption at all levels as the root of the problem. “Our society is healthy,” says Pyotr Svoik, an opposition activist, adding “Let’s modernize the state and religion will fall into place.”

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Soldiers of Khalifat keep threatening Kazakhstan

Thursday, 10.11.2011, 16:17

http://en.tengrinews.kz/emergencies/5573/

Following the investigation of the terrorist attacks in Atyrau leader of Jund al-Khalifat (Soldiers of Khalifat) criminal group Rawil Kusaynov gave an interview to Minbar Media Project, SITE Intelligence Group writes. In the interview published on November 9 on Internet-forum Shumukh al-Islam (Al-Quaeda's forum) he told about terrorist attacks in Atyrau and activities of the organization's division, Al Zahir Baibars Battalion (Sultan Baibars).

According to the leader of the group, members of the Soldiers of Khalifat are represented by “fighters” of different origins from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and other countries, who see their goal in restoration of the Islamic Khalifat. In the interview Kusaynov mainly talked about Kazakhstan and the country's policy in particular, that, according to him, has a negative effect on Islam. His speech contained extremist calls for his followers to take the lessons from the Arab Spring and get rid of the government.

October 24 Al Zahir Baibars Battalion threatened Kazakhstan with violence in case the government does not cancel the Law on Religion that was adopted in October 2011. A week after the group organized a terrorist attack in Atyrau. The journalist interviewing Kusaynov noted that the actions of the Soldiers (Atyrau blasts) were quite rushed and the group did not give Kazakhstan's government enough time to review the demand made by Islamists.

"This is not a hurry, this is promptness,” leader of Jund al-Khalifat said and noted that Kazkahstan's authorities “were also efficient in relation to our warnings”. “We were monitoring their (of Kazakhstan authorities) statements and found them skeptical, arrogant and demonstrating contempt for Mujahideens. They did not show any desire to cancel the unfair decision of the government,” Kusaynov said.

Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that two explosions happened in Atyrau in the morning of October 31. Siusice bomber turned out to be Atyrau resident Baurzhan Sultangaliyev, 24. The criminal group suspected in organization of the blasts was apprehended on October 31. The investigation defined that this terrorist group was established in 2009 “under the influence of Jihad ideas and impact of extremist preacher Said Buryatskiy, who died in the North Caucasus”.

On November 1 Islamic group Djund Al-Khalifat (Soldiers of Khalifat) claimed responsibility for the explosions. Earlier Kazakhstan's General Prosecution office stated that this organization was created this summer by Kazakhstan citizens Rinat Khabidolla, Orynbassar Munatov and Damir Znaliyev to promote Jihad at the territory of Kazakhstan. Tags: Kazakh, Kazakhstan, news, Soldiers of Khalifat, terrorism

Views: 194    Comments: 0

For more information see: http://en.tengrinews.kz/emergencies/5573/Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz

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Kazakh jihadi leader seeks restoration of Islamic caliphate

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/11/kazakh_jihadi_leader.php

By Bill Roggio

November 10, 2011

The leader of a little-known terror group that operates in Afghanistan and Kazakhstan said his organization seeks to aid in the restoration of an Islamic caliphate.

Rawil Kusaynuv, the emir of the Zahir Baibars Battalion, a primarily Kazakh jihadist group that fights in Afghanistan, granted an interview with Haydar al Khorasani from the Minbar Media Project, a jihadist propaganda outlet. The interview was recently posted on jihadist websites and was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Kusaynuv leads the Zahir Baibars Battalion, which he claims is one several units in the Jund al Khilafah, or Brigade of the Soldiers of the Caliphate. The group has recently emerged in jihadist propaganda, and has released two videos of attacks on US bases in Khost province, Afghanistan. The attacks took place in Haqqani Network areas in June and July, and the videos were released in September and October, respectively. Prior to the release of these tapes, there has been no mention of the group.

"The Brigade is composed of several battalions, most of which work in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world," said Kusaynuv, according to the SITE translation. "It has a charter that has yet to be made public, but it might be published later, Allah willing. It follows the style of secret organizations in their non-disclosure of their administrative structures and their leaders."

Kusaynuv said his battalion has "a group of mujahideen of different nationalities" but is primarily made up of Kazakh nationals. He would not disclose the name of the emir of the Jund al Khilafah.

"As for us in the Battalion, more than 90% of us are from Kazakhstan, and we have many military activities on the fighting lines in Afghanistan in collaboration with the rest of the battalions," he said. "We are also interested in the military, faith, intellectual, and

political support for our brothers in order for them to rise to an acceptable level of ability to wage the fight."

In addition to fighting in Afghanistan, he said his battalion is "very interested in what is happening in Kazakhstan, and we dedicate a significant part of our resources to it, because we consider it one of our priorities." The terror group carried out two bombings in Kazakhstan on Oct. 31 to punish the government for enacting a law that bans women from wearing the hijab in government-run places.

Kusaynuv also denied that the Jund al Khilafah is made up exclusively of Wahabbis.

"There are those who follow the doctrine of Imam Abu Hanifa, and those who follow the words of Imam Malik, and those who are Hambalis, Salafists, and so on," Kusaynuv said. "We respect all the schools of thought and we revere all the scholars, and we do not have any reservation upon them, starting from Imam Abu Hanifa to Sheikh Ibn Abdul Wahhab."

Restoring the Caliphate

Kusaynuv said the Jund al Khilafah was so named to remind Muslims that they have a "duty" to aid in the restoration of a global Islamic caliphate ruled by sharia, or Islamic law.

"This name reminds Muslims of their duty to revive the Islamic Caliphate as a system.... It is the system of Shariah-based governance that must be prevail in every Muslim country from the east to the west."

"We believe that the region of Central Asia, in addition to the Islamic Maghreb [North Africa] and Yemen, are candidates to be the nucleus for the return of the Caliphate State in the future," he continued.

Jund al Khilafah is one of several foreign fighter brigades operating in eastern Afghanistan and in Pakistan's tribal areas that support the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate. Other units include the Caucasus Mujahideen in Khorasan; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and its offshoot, the Islamic Jihad Group; Taifatul Mansura (Victorious Sect); and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/11/kazakh_jihadi_leader.php#ixzz1dM6oZbGG

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Kazakh Officials Say Terrorist Group Involved In Atyrau Bombings http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_officials_say_terrorist_group_involved_in_atyrau_bombings/24385923.html

November 09, 2011

ASTANA -- The Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office says that four alleged members of a terrorist group called Jund Al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) were responsible for bombings in the western city of Atyrau on October 31, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The comments by Prosecutor-General spokesman Nurdaulet Suindikov mark the first time authorities have pinned the blame for the two blasts on the little-known group, which earlier claimed responsibility.

Suindikov told journalists in Astana on November 9  that the men were followers of Aleksandr Tikhomirov (aka Said Buryatsky), a well-known jihad ideologist killed by Russian security forces in Ingushetia in March 2010.

Suindikov added that the four were also connected with Jund Al-Khilafah, a "brigade" of foreign fighters based on the Afghan-Pakistan border. He said the four are Meirambek Usabekov (born in 1986), Merkhat Qalqamanov (born in 1988), Alimzhan Sagenov (born in 1983), and Bauyrzhan Sultanghaliev (born in 1988).

Sultanghaliev died in one of the blasts. The other three are currently in custody.

Suindikov said that in September the men established contact with Jund Al-Khilafah which, he said, was founded by Kazakhs Rinat Khabidolda, Orynbasar Munatov, and Damir Znaliev with the aim of "launching a jihad on the territory of Kazakhstan."

Suindikov said the four young men put together two explosive devices in Sultanghaliev's apartment last month. He said they also bought street cleaners' uniforms to disguise themselves in order to plant the homemade bombs in dumpsters near the Atyrau prosecutor's office and a local government building.

Suindikov said Usabekov reportedly placed one of the bombs in a dumpster near the Atyrau Oblast's government building and detonated it.

Sultanghaliev was supposed to plant the second bomb next to the prosecutor's office, but set it off by accident and died in the blast.

Suindikov told journalists that the three detained suspects have confessed to their

involvement in the bombings.

Jund Al-Khilafah claimed credit for the blasts in a statement on jihadist forums immediately after they took place.

The Islamist group was unknown until it appeared in a video posted on YouTube earlier in October. In it, the group demanded, in Russian, that Kazakhstan repeal a new law which bans daily Islamic prayers on the premises of government agencies.

In the video, one of the five masked fighters holding Kalashnikovs and a grenade launcher warned Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and the country's authorities they will take "appropriate measures" unless the law is repealed.

Read more in Kazakh here

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Hard to find Kazakh militants even if they exist – Andrey Chebotarev

11/09/11http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/society/19735.html

Vestnik Kavkaza reported earlier that the Kazakh Prosecutor General’s Office lays responsibility for blasts at Atyrau district center on the Soldiers of the Caliphate group, which took responsibility for the attacks. Members of the group are believed to be followers of Said Buryatsky, a Russian extremist killed in Ingushetia, famous for video speeches.

Andrey Chebotarev, Director of the Center for Topical Research, told Vestnik Kavkaza that involvement of Kazakh citizens in the group is the reason for recognition of the Soldiers of the Caliphate. The group’s location is unknown. They may be in Afghanistan or in Kazakhstan. The expert does not know whether the group has links with militants of the North Caucasus.

The political analyst says that recognition of the resistance group has not been followed by serious reaction from the authorities.

Clashes with extremists have been happening in Kazakhstan since spring 2011. Stress is laid on use of force. There is high risk for further terrorist acts and extremism, the expert concluded.

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Kazakh Police Apprehend Three Over Bomb Blasts

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_police_apprehend_three_over_bomb_blasts/24383574.html

November 07, 2011 ATYRAU, Kazakhstan -- Three men have been arrested in western Kazakhstan in connection with two bombs that exploded there last week, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

On November 7, the prosecutor's office in Kazakhstan's western Atyrau Oblast announced the detention of three members of an alleged terrorist group suspected of being behind the two explosions in the city of Atyrau on October 31.

It did not identify the men or specify when they were arrested. It said the group's objective was "to scare law enforcement officials and local government employees."

A local man authorities said was the fourth member of the group, Bauyrzhan Qanatuly Sultanghaliev, 23, died in the second of the two blasts.

The prosecutor's statement said Sultanghaliev did not intend to kill himself, but died as a result of "the accidental detonation of a home-made explosive device."

A group called Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate), a "brigade" of foreign fighters based on the Afghan-Pakistan border, claimed credit for the Atyrau bombings in a statement released on jihadist forums.

In the statement, the group denied the man killed was a suicide bomber and said the blasts "were just a warning to the government."

In a short video posted on YouTube last month, the same Islamist group demanded, in Russian, that Kazakhstan repeal a new law which bans daily Islamic prayers on the premises of government agencies.

In the video, one of the five masked fighters toting Kalashnikovs and a grenade launcher warned Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and the country's authorities they will take "appropriate measures" unless the law is repealed.

Read more in Kazakh here

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KAZAKH SECURITY AGENCY ESTABLISHES LEADS TO THE BOMBING SUSPECTS

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=expert_opinions&news_id=625

Astana. November 2. Interfax-Kazakhstan - The National Security Committee has identified the suspects of Atyrau bombings.

"A criminal case has been launched. Suspects are identified. The investigation team is working on the case with the General Prosecutors Office," said the security agency deputy chairman User Mizanbaev in Astana on Wednesday

However, he did not elaborate further on the details of the investigation.

Miznabaev said that the agency has no information whether the suspects are linked to any religious cults.

The official also declined to comment on an alleged involvement of the Jund al Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, who recently claimed responsibility for the Atyrau bombings.

"We can't say for certain, if such terrorist group exists, but we are working to find that out," he added.

He stressed that the Kazakh security agencies do their best to fend off such threats.

As reported, two blasts rocked Atyrau on Monday morning. One bomb exploded near the regional akim's office. Several minutes later a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Saryarka neighborhood, 50 meters away from the city prosecutor's office.

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Kazakh Bomber 'Identified,' As Islamist Group Claims Responsibility

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_bomber_claimed_by_foreign_group/24378425.html

November 01, 2011 ATYRAU, Kazakhstan -- Officials in western Kazakhstan say they have identified the man who was killed on October 31 by an improvised explosive device he had reportedly prepared, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The Atyrau regional prosecutor's office announced on its website that the two bombs that exploded in the city center were detonated by a 23-year-old local resident, Bauyrzhan Qanatuly Sultanghaliev.

It said the bomber was identified by his relatives and through his fingerprints.

The statement also said investigators found materials and chemicals used to manufacture

an explosive device in Sultanghaliev's apartment.

The Atyrau police have classified the bombings as a terrorist act using explosives. The first explosion took place at about 8:45 a.m. on Qulmanov Street, and the second around 9:50 a.m. in the central Saryarqa district.

Sultanghaliev died in the second blast. It is not clear whether he was planning to carry out a suicide-bomb attack or if he detonated the device by accident.

Meanwhile, "The Long War Journal," which monitors terrorist attacks around the world, reported on October 31 that a group called Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate), a "brigade" of foreign fighters based along the Afghan-Pakistani border, claimed credit for the Atyrau bombings in a statement released on jihadist forums.

In the statement, which has been translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the group denied the operative killed was a suicide bomber and said the blasts "were just a warning to the government."

In a short video posted on the Internet last week, the same Islamist group demanded, in Russian, that Kazakhstan repeal a new law that bans daily Islamic prayers on the premises of government agencies.

In the video, one of the five masked fighters toting Kalashnikovs and a grenade launcher warned Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and the country's authorities they will take "appropriate measures" unless the law is repealed.

Bombing attacks are rare in Kazakhstan, but two explosions in May -- including the country's first-known suicide bombing -- killed at least two people.

Read more in Kazakh here and here

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Statement of Jund Al-Khilafa battalion regarding the Kazakhstan bombings

http://shuratulmujahideen.blogspot.com/2011/11/statement-of-jund-al-khilafa-battalion.html

الرحيم الرحمن الله بسم

للعالمين رحمة المبعوث الله علىرسول والسالم والصالة

, , الكفر احزاب وهازم العاملين جنده ومؤيد المؤمنين عباده ناصر لله الحمد.اجمعين

بعد :أما

(Permission to fight is (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers), who are fought against, because they (believers) have been wronged, and surely, Allâh is Able to give them victory -39- Those who have been expelled from their homes unjustly only because they said: "Our Lord is Allâh." - For had it not been that

Allâh checks one set of people by means of another, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, wherein the Name of Allâh is mentioned much would

surely have been pulled down. Verily, Allâh will help those who help His (Cause). Truly, Allâh is All-Strong, All-Mighty -40-) Surah Al-Hajj

The law of banning the Hijab and Salat that the regime concealed it’s harsh campaign against Islam, is an unjust law, which is an doubtless indication on the

Kufr of Kazakh government and its president Nazarbayev.

Due to the persistence of the regime of the state of Kazakhstan in insulting the Muslim Ummah and because of its disregard to the numerous warnings that we have delivered to it in secret and in public to amend following the tyranny and disregard to the religion of Islam and its rituals. But it insisted and through the

statements of its officials to disregard our warnings and expressed its unwillingness to change the unjust policies.. Thus we in the blessed Jund Al-Khilafa battalion

declare our full responsibility for the two explosions that one of them targeted the headquarters of the province (White House), and the second the headquarters of the public prosecution and intelligence in the city of Atyrau. We deny the fact that the

last attack was carried out as a martyrdom-operation. It seems that the bomb exploded accidently, which led to the martyrdom of its carrier. We ask Allah to

accept him among the martyrs. 

We note here that these two explosions were just a warning to the government, and we deliberately did not inflict deaths and injuries in fear for the public who come in large numbers to these places. However, if in the future we do not find listening ears

and responses to our demands, then, we swear by Allah, who raised the heavens without pillars, that out next attacks will be back-backing to the tyrant and will

bring forth unceasing rivers from the blood of his henchmen.

And Allâh has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.

Al-Zahir Baibars company rahimahullah

Jund Al-Khilafa battalion 

Monday 4 Dhu Al-Hijjah 1432 A.H.

31 October 2011

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Blast Kills One In Western Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/one_killed_un_kazakh_blast/24377179.html

The Atyrau Oblast governor's office was immediately evacuated after an explosive device detonated nearby.

October 31, 2011

ATYRAU, Kazakhstan -- Two explosions have rocked Kazakhstan's western city of Atyrau, killing a suspected suicide bomber, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The Atyrau Oblast Prosecutor's Office press service told journalists that the first explosion took place on October 31 at 8.45 a.m. in Qulmanov Street in the Caspian port city, and the second at 9.50 a.m. in the central Saryarqa district.

One man died in the second blast. It is not clear if he intended to commit a suicide attack, or detonated the explosive device by accident. It is also not known whether he planted or detonated the first explosive device.

Prosecutors said the unidentified man "used an explosive device, as a result of which he died on the spot," while local media identified him as a suicide bomber.

Local newspaper "Aq Zhaiyq" wrote that the first explosion took place near the building housing the Atyrau Oblast governor's office, which was immediately evacuated.

A correspondent with "Aq Zhaiyq" was detained by police after she took pictures of the city police department building near the site of one of the blasts. She was later released.

The territory where the blasts took place is cordoned off by police, and nobody is allowed to enter.

Bombing attacks have been rare in Kazakhstan, but in May, two explosions including the country's first known suicide bombing killed at least two people.

Today's blasts come a week after a video clip was posted on YouTube in which a previously unknown Islamist group demanded Kazakhstan repeal a new law banning daily prayers on the premises of branches of government.

In the clip, one of five masked fighters toting Kalashnikovs and a grenade launcher warned Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and the country's authorities that they will take "appropriate measures" unless the law is repealed

Read more in Russian here

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Eight more terror suspects to be tried in Kazakhstan - source

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=827

AKTOBE. October 26 (Interfax) - Investigators in Aktobe (administrative center of Kazakhstan's Aktobe region) have completed a criminal inquiry into a case of terrorism.

"The case against eight people has been sent to the court," an informed law enforcement source told Interfax on Tuesday.

Hearings in the case will begin in November, the source said.

On October 6, a specialized inter-district criminal court in the Aktobe region sentenced two local residents to life in prison, two others got 14 and six years in a high-security prison.

They were found guilty under Article 233 (terrorism), Article 96 (murder) and Article 251 (unlawful acquisition, sale and possession of firearms and ammunition) of the national Penal Code.

The trial was held at a detention center and was closed to the public.

A group of local residents shot dead two police officers in the village of Shubarshi in the Aktobe region in the early hours of July 1. During an operation to arrest the murderers, a member of the Arlan special forces unit was killed. Three of his colleagues were wounded.

Later, members of two other special forces units, Sunkar and Berkut, killed nine people, who were suspected of murdering the police officers, in the nearby village of Kenkiyak.

Kazakhstan in Focus #25

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Islamist Group Threatens Kazakhstan Over Religion Law

http://www.rferl.org/content/islamist_group_threatens_kazakhstan_over_religion_law/24371692.html

October 26, 2011 A previously unknown Islamist group has threatened Kazakhstan with violence unless it abolishes a new law that bans prayer rooms in state buildings in the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation.

U.S.-based intelligence monitoring group SITE said a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) has issued an Arabic-subtitled video, dated October 21.

There has been no independent confirmation of the authenticity of the video.

In the video, four masked fighters with submachine guns and a grenade launcher are seen standing behind a fighter reading a speech in which he calls on the Kazakh government to abolish the law.

President Nursultan Nazarbaev who signed the law this month claims the new legislation will strengthen religious tolerance.

But the law has been criticized by Kazakhstan's Supreme Mufti, Absattar Derbisali, who said it could anger pious Muslims and spur extremism.

Rights groups in the West and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have voiced concerns that it could restrict religious freedom.

Reuters

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Extremists detained in Kazakhstan kept in touch with foreign mentors - agency

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=820

Astana. October 21. Interfax-Kazakhstan - Motives of religious extremism were behind recent events in Atyrau in western Kazakhstan, where several dozen people were detained, Marat Azilkhanov, deputy chairman of the Kazakh Agency on Religion, said.

"The preliminary information circulated by law enforcement services confirms that indeed, the people who have been detained did not have direct contacts, but were engaged in email correspondence with foreign countries and received some instructions from them. They even discussed possible financial support from abroad for members of these gangs," Azilkhanov said during a Moscow-Astana TV link-up on Friday.

"[In Atyrau] law enforcement services acted effectively, in advance, when they detained members of religious organizations whose goal was still of an extremist nature," he said.

Twenty-four extremists accused by law enforcement services of plotting to stage terrorist attacks in the region were detained in Atyrau at the end of August and the beginning of September.

Parts of improvised explosive devices were confiscated from the suspects. One of them was killed after putting up armed resistance to police officers detaining him.

Kazakhstan in Focus #25

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Members Of Sufi Group Jailed In Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_sufis_jailed/24365092.html

October 19, 2011 ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Nine members of a Sufi group in Kazakhstan have been jailed after being convicted on charges including religious extremism, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The nine were found guilty by a court in Almaty on October 19 of religious extremism, unlawful restraint, and causing damage to health by practicing faith healing.

The leader of the group, Ismatulla Abdulgappar, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and Sayat Ybyraev , a professor at the Kazakh National Technical University, to 12 years. Seven others received prison terms ranging from two to nine years. They were all arrested in August 2010.

The nine were accused of holding other members of the group against their will and preventing sick members, on religious grounds, from getting professional medical help.

The group consider themselves followers of Yassawi Sufism.

Khoja Ahmed Yassawi was the 12th-century head of a regional school of Sufism, a mystic movement in Islam that began in the ninth century.

Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from everything but God."

Read more in Kazakh here

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Kazakh President Signs Restrictive Law On Religion

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_president_signs_restrictive_religion_bill_into_law/24358625.html

October 13, 2011

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has signed into law legislation that tightens control over religious groups in what officials suggest is a bid to counter Islamic extremism, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service and other media report.

Nazarbaev had earlier proposed the bill to parliament, which gave it overwhelming backing. His office said in a statement that the law reflects "current realities and trends."

The law requires existing religious groups to dissolve and re-register through a procedure that is likely to leave many smaller groups out in the cold.

The construction of religious sites will require approval by local authorities, and the religious education of youth will also be under their control.

In addition, the new law imposes a ban on praying in the workplace.

The legislation has been criticized by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which said it "unnecessarily restricts the freedom of religion."

Kazakh authorities have repeatedly expressed concern about the spreading of Muslim extremism.

Some 70 percent of Kazakhstan's 16.5 million people are Muslims.

compiled from RFE/RL and agency reports

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Large group of suspected terrorists placed on wanted list in Kazakhstan

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=791

ATYRAU. October 3 (Interfax) - The court No. 2 in Atyrau, the administrative center of the Atyrau region in Kazakhstan, continues issuing warrants for the arrest of suspected terrorists.

"The city court has issued warrants for the arrest of 39 suspected terrorists, including those hiding abroad in near and far places and wanted by police," the court's spokesman Boranbai Galiyev told Interfax on Friday.

A group of extremists was detained in Atyrau in late August on suspicion of plotting terror attacks in the region. One of the suspected terrorists was killed during the arrest after he offered armed resistance to police. Fragments of home-made bombs were seized from them.

Among those detained was a second-year student of a local college who was under house arrest.

Investigators established that the suspects had organized a fundraising campaign in Atyrau and the region for Kazakhstani émigrés in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan in Focus #25

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Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan steps up activity in Central Asia - Russian paper

Text of report by the website of heavyweight Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 8 September

[Report by Viktoriya Panfilova: "Kazakhstan Is Now in the Islamists' Sights; the Militants Are Promising To 'Blow Up' Central Asia Next Spring"]

Personnel of Tajikistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested an activist of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IDU), who was making preparations for a terrorist act, in the north of the country yesterday. Experts have noted a surge of activity by this extremist organization. The IDU's goal is still the same as before -a change of regimes in the Central Asian republics and the subsequent creation of a single Islamic state. There has been only one change in IDU activity: Kazakhstan is now part of its "programme" for the first time.

Kazakhstan has been chosen by the IDU leadership to serve as an R&R base for the militants, whereas Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are regarded by the IDU as transit countries for the redeployment of troops and Uzbekistan is still the organization's chief target. According to a report in Kazakhstan's Vremya publication, Vitaliy Volkov, Radio Nemetskaya Volna's expert on Central Asia, said at a press conference in Almaty that Kazakhstan had been chosen as a rear services base for the IDU for strikes against Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and even the Russian Caucasus. He asserted that the IDU and other groups are operating unimpeded in Kazakhstan.

"The militants of the IDU and members of Central Asian extremist organizations are preparing for operations in Kyrgyzstan. The chief target, however, is Uzbekistan," Volkov reported. According to his data, the extremists have established a broad recruiting base in Kazakhstan and are persuading the local population and newcomers to join their ranks. International radical groups are being augmented enthusiastically by Kazakhs. The IDU not only feels free to do whatever it wants in the country, but is also sending its adherents here for rest and recuperation, Volkov declared.

The expert also reported that the IDU had launched the first phase of something called Operation "Badr" in Pakistan and Afghanistan some time ago. The goal is the elimination of public officials loyal to the government of Hamid Karzai, the so-called collaborationists, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The second phase of the operation will be launched in Central Asia.

The IDU is threatening to destabilize the entire Central Asian region. Aleksandr Knyazev, senior scientific associate at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, also believes that Kazakhstan, which has been stable so far, will be drawn into the process. "The problem of religious extremism became much more acute here in recent months... Furthermore, it is significant that the extremist organizations operating in Kazakhstan (in the republic's north and northwest) have their main ties not with the Fergana Valley, but with Russia's North Caucasus. This offers more evidence that the groups were not formed spontaneously. Their activities are directed from the same centres. A recent report said that the 'Kazakhstan Jamoat,' a group of about 200 militants, is fighting as an element of the IDU in Afghanistan," Aleksandr Knyazev told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. According to his sources, the organization is constantly being augmented by young people from! the Central Asian countries, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the republics of the North Caucasus. "Young people are recruited, transported to Afghanistan and Pakistan, coached and given military training in special camps, and then sent to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and other countries."

This information has been confirmed by Kyrgyz human rights advocate Toktayym Umetaliyeva's report that so-called athletes proficient in the Asian martial arts were sent from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan a month ago, ostensibly to set up youth martial arts clubs in southern Uzbekistan. "Their Internet activity on social networking sites like Facebook has already been detected and it has nothing to do with martial arts," Umetaliyeva told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. She believes the situation in Kyrgyzstan will depend on the outcome of the presidential election. Aleksandr Knyazev agrees. "The potential for conflict does exist. Arms are being stockpiled. The religious factor will be stronger than it was last year. But who will provoke the conflict? That is the only question," he told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Knyazev feels that if the southern clans in Kyrgyzstan are able to reach a compromise with the northern ones and if all of them are satisfied with the division of official p! ositions and even the traffic in illicit drugs, provocation can be avoided this

year. Otherwise, a conflict is certain to be provoked on religious grounds. "Members of the IDU and of another similar organization, Hizb al-Tahrir, have been working actively with the population of southern Kyrgyzstan," Knyazev reported.

Following the rift in the IDU in 2002 and the death of the organization's leader, Takhir Yuldashev, the IDU is now a completely transformed organization with a new leadership and with, according to various sources, as many as 5,000 well-trained fighters. Most of the IDU detachments are now based in the northeastern provinces of Afghanistan -Takhar, Kunduz, and Badakhshan, and the so-called Turkic subdivision is in northwest Afghanistan. Experts are predicting a surge of extremist activity throughout the Central Asian region by spring next year. More intense activity is also expected in the North Caucasus and in China's Xinjiang region.

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta website, Moscow, in Russian 8 Sep 11

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Kazakhstan: Astana Confronts Extremist Threathttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/64133

September 6, 2011 - 12:52pm, by Joanna Lillis

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, seen here on Sept. 1 visiting with children during a trip to the Kyzylorda region in western Kazakhstan, vows to clamp down on extremism following a suicide bombing and several clashes between security forces and armed suspects. (Photo: Office of President of Kazakhstan)

Kazakhstan's law-enforcers had a busy summer: it began with the country’s first ever suicide bombing in May, and continued with sporadic deadly clashes between security forces and armed suspects.

Officials at first resisted linking the incidents to terrorists. But now, after months of denials, authorities are acknowledging an extremist threat, primarily in the country’s energy hub.

The latest twist in the summer-long saga occurred August 29, when law enforcement officials announced they had foiled a plot to carry out terrorist attacks in the Atyrau Region, an oil-rich area in western Kazakhstan. One suspect was killed during a police round-up operation. Twenty-two suspects were arrested on terrorism charges, and two more are in detention under investigation. They are suspected of having links to an unnamed terrorist organization based in Pakistan and accused of making explosive devices using information downloaded from the Internet.

The August 29 announcement of a terrorist plot signified a departure from insistent official statements that the string of suspicious incidents – including the suicide bombing, a car explosion in Astana, and armed clashes between suspects and security forces – had no terrorist link.

The suicide bombing on May 17 was blamed on a criminal with a grudge against the National Security Committee (KNB), Kazakhstan’s security service, whose headquarters the bomber targeted in the oil city of Aktobe. A week later, a car exploded in Astana outside a KNB facility, killing the vehicle’s two occupants. Officials ruled out terrorism, but offered no coherent explanation for the blast.

On June 30, two police officers were murdered in Shubarshi, a village 250 kilometers from Aktobe. That incident prompted a security operation that ended in a shootout in which nine suspects and two more law-enforcement agents were killed. Officials again denied a link with extremism, offering the arcane explanation that the group had been committing crimes using religion as a cover.

Shortly afterwards a police officer tracking a suspect in Aktobe was shot dead from inside a house, in which a man then blew himself up. These incidents left a combined death toll of 19 -- five members of law-enforcement agencies, 11 suspects, one suicide bomber and two occupants of the exploding car.

Astana positions itself as a bastion of stability and – anxious not to rattle foreign investors, many of whom have interests in the energy sector in western Kazakhstan – officials are keen to preserve this image.

Not surprisingly, the turmoil is now on President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s radar. Speaking in parliament on September 1, he acknowledged that Kazakhstan faces a problem with extremism and pledged to tackle it. “Why should we give free rein to everything? ... This is a state, and we should put our house in order,” he said. He went on to call for changes to legislation covering national security and religious affairs, stressing that amendments would not be aimed at “prohibiting freedom of conscience.”

“It is about protecting the state from religious extremism,” Nazarbayev stressed.

Astana is already blocking 51 websites deemed to contain extremist content, including – controversially – the LiveJournal blogging forum.

As Kazakhstan clamps down on radicalism, some observers say Astana should proceed cautiously in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of neighboring Uzbekistan. Faced with a rising tide of Islamic radicalism in the late 1990s, Tashkent responded with heavy-handed repression that ended up driving more Muslims into the arms of extremists.

Historically, Kazakhstan has virtually no tradition of radical Islam, and this is the first time it has faced a threat from homegrown extremists.

Observers say radicalism is being fuelled by social disaffection – particularly in the west. Oil-rich Kazakhstan is the wealthiest country in Central Asia, but not everyone has profited from the energy boom over the past decade. In the west, where living conditions are often harsh, there is resentment over a perception that the regions that fuel that boom do not benefit sufficiently from it.

This disaffection is coupled with a rise in “pseudo-religious ideological drilling” of young people, Madina Nurgaliyeva, a researcher with the Almaty-based Institute of Political Solutions (IPS) think tank, said in comments published by the Russian news agency Regnum on August 26. This, Nurgaliyeva suggested, has turned western areas of Kazakhstan into “a hotbed of tension.” According to an IPS poll published in mid-August, 55 percent of inhabitants of western regions believe a terrorist attack in Kazakhstan is probable, higher than the national figure of 31 percent.

All this talk of terrorism sparked scare-mongering that a major Beslan-style attack was being planned in Kazakhstan. Almost 400 people, most of them young students, were killed in the 2004 hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia. In the western oil city of Aktau, some parents kept their children away from celebrations marking the start of a new academic year on September 1 due to rumors of an attack, KTK TV reported.

Editor's note: Joanna Lillis is a freelance writer who specializes in Central Asia.

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Kazakhstan Cites Terror-Suspect Links To Afghanistan, Pakistan

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan_cites_terror_suspect_links_to_afghanistan_pakistan/24321879.html

September 08, 2011 A spokesman for a Kazakh provincial court says the questioning of some of the 22 suspects being held on terrorism charges has revealed that they received funding from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Boranbai Galiev, the press secretary for the Atyrau Provincial Court, said one of the suspects had been in constant contact with Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Internet.

Atyrau, in western Kazakhstan, has seen several terrorist attacks and security operations since May, including the country's first suicide bomber.

Galiev said money for the group was deposited in a Kazakhstan bank.

compiled from local and regional agency reports

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Kazakhstan Says 18 Terrorist Suspects Detained

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan_says_18_terrorist_suspects_detained/24313557.html

August 31, 2011

The head of the prosecutor's office in Kazakhstan's western Atyrau say police in the area have detained 18 people suspected of planning terrorist attacks.

Seyfulla Kemalov told a press briefing on August 31 that law enforcement "had every reason" to suspect the 18 and apprehend them.

Kemalov did not provide any details about the planned terrorist acts but did mention the killing of a suspected terrorist on August 29 and said a search of that person's home uncovered materials for making explosives.

Kemalov said all 18 of the men detained were from the Atyrau region, which has seen a suicide bombing earlier this year and shoot-outs between security forces and suspected

militants.

compiled from agency reports

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Alleged Extremist Shot Dead In West Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/alleged_extremist_killed_in_west_kazakhstan/24313125.html

August 30, 2011

ATYRAU, Kazakhstan -- Authorities in western Kazakhstan say they have shot dead a suspected religious extremist who was plotting acts of terrorism, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Officials at the Atyrau Oblast prosecutor's office told RFE/RL that the man was a member of a religious extremist group and was shot dead in the city of Atyrau on August 29. They said he had been planning "acts of terrorism" in the region.

Shootings and explosions were heard after police and security forces cordoned off one district of the city, an RFE/RL correspondent reported.

There have been several such fatal clashes between local police and alleged members of religious extremist groups in Kazakhstan's western regions of Atyrau and Aqtobe in recent months.

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Two Killed In Latest Violence In Northwestern Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/two_dead_in_latest_northwest_kazakh_violence/24281181.html

July 29, 2011

AQTOBE, Kazakhstan -- Two people have been killed in a shoot-out and explosion in Kazakhstan's northwestern city of Aqtobe, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Kazakh Interior Ministry officials said unknown assailants shot at a group of police on the outskirts of Aqtobe and killed one policeman.

The attackers also detonated a bomb that destroyed a house and killed one unidentified

person. A second person was injured by the blast.

Aqtobe Interior Ministry officials also said today that police found a gun and a large quantity of explosives during a search in the village of Kenkiyaq.

Two policemen were killed by unidentified attackers on July 1 in the village of Shubarshi, also in the Aqtobe region.

Earlier this week, Aqtobe Interior Ministry spokesman Almat Imanghaliev told journalists that on July 25 police shot dead a man suspected of involvement in the killing of a 22-year-old man two weeks earlier.

In May, Kazakhstan's first-ever suicide bomber, Rakhimzhan Makhatov, 25, blew himself up in the entrance to the Aqtobe branch of the National Security Committee. Three people were injured in the blast.

In February, a car exploded outside a prison camp in the Aqtobe region, causing minor damage.

The Kazakh authorities have repeatedly denied any link between the various incidents in Aqtobe.

Read more in Russian here and here

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Murder Suspect Shot Dead In Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/murder_suspect_killed_in_kazakhstan/24277736.html

July 26, 2011

AQTOBE, Kazakhstan -- Police in Kazakhstan's northwestern city of Aqtobe have killed a murder suspect while trying to detain him and his associates, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Aqtobe Interior Ministry department spokesman Almat Imanghaliev told journalists that three local men suspected of involvement in the killing of a 22-year-old local man on July 10 were arrested on July 25 by members of the Arlan special police unit.

Imanghaliev said the fourth suspect refused to surrender and opened fire on police, who fired back and killed the suspect.

The Aqtobe regional prosecutor ruled on July 26 that the police were justified in opening fire on the suspect.

Residents of nearby buildings were evacuated during the operation to apprehend the suspects, which lasted for several hours.

Imanghaliev did not clarify the motive for the murder, which is being investigated.

Read more in Kazakh here

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Authorities Say 16 Prisoners Killed in Kazakh Prison Violence.

http://www.rferl.org/content/authorities_say_16_prisoners_killed_in_kazakh_prison_violence/24263383.html

July 12, 2011

Kazakh officials have said a total of 16 prisoners were killed when inmates attempted to escape from a Kazakh prison late on July 10.

Kazakh Justice Ministry spokesman Sultan Kusetov was reported by the AFP news agency as saying the prisoners were killed during a shootout with security guards that ended with a powerful explosion.

Earlier, the Interfax news agency had reported that a group of 16 convicts described as "members of an organized crime group" were behind the escape attempt, and that several inmates died when a homemade bomb intended to blast a hole in the prison's exterior wall detonated.

The prison is located in the town of Balkhash near the city of Karanganda.

Kazakhstan has been experiencing prison unrest for several years.

The country's prison system has come under criticism from the European Union for rights abuses and other violations.

compiled from agency reports

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Prison Guard, Six Inmates Die In Failed Escape Attempt In Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/prison_guard_killed_in_failed_escape_attempt_in_kazakhstan/24262312.html

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 11.07.2011 17:51

Kazakh officials say convicts have killed a prison guard and wounded several servicemen in a firefight during a failed attempt to escape from a penal colony that ultimately killed at least six inmates.

The penitentiary branch of the Justice Ministry said security forces foiled an attempted overnight jailbreak through the fence of the penal colony in Balkhash, a town some 600 kilometers north of Almaty.

Interfax news agency reported that a group of 16 convicts described as "members of an organized crime group" were behind the escape attempt.

An Interior Ministry statement said that during the security forces' response, six inmates died when a homemade bomb intended to blast a hole in the prison's exterior wall detonated.

Troops were said to have regained control of most of the facility, although an unknown number of inmates were resisting them from barricaded buildings.

The incident comes after police said during the weekend that they had killed nine people suspected of carrying out attacks on security forces in a remote western region.

Four officers have also died in three separate gun attacks in the Aktobe region since June 30, less than two months after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the offices of the state security offices in the regional capital.

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News

Kazakh Police Say Nine Gunmen Killed In Shoot-Out

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_police_say_nine_gunmen_killed_in_shootout/24262209.html

July 11, 2011

Police in Kazakhstan say they have killed nine people suspected of carrying out attacks on security forces in a remote western region.

Three officers have died in two separate gun attacks in the Aktobe region since June 30, less than two months after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the offices of the state security offices in the regional capital.

The Interior Ministry said a fourth officer was killed on in a shoot-out in the town of Kenkiyak. Police on July 11 denied the attacks were part of an Islamist rebellion.

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Police Clash With Armed Group In Western Kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/police_clash_with_armed_group_in_western_kazakhstan_/24254431.html

July 03, 2011 By RFE/RLRFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports there are ongoing clashes between police and an armed group in Kazakhstan's Aktobe region, in the west of the country.

The police operation against the group was launched after attackers killed two police officers in Shubarshi village.

A spokesman for the regional interior department in Aktobe, Almat Imangaliev, confirmed the operation at a press conference, where he told reporters that it is not known if the attackers are members of a Muslim extremist group.

RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that in recent years, several Muslim minorities have been imprisoned in Aktobe region for what were described as "terrorist activities."

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The names of the suspects in the murder of two policemen in the Aktobe region

http://kt.kz/index.php?lang=rus&uin=1133168020&chapter=1153540944 04.07.2011 09:09

Aktobe. On July 3. Kazakhstan Today - The names of the suspects in the murder of two policemen in the Aktobe region, reports Kazakhstan Today.

According to the press service of the DVD of Aktobe region, for the most serious crimes are sought as follows: Akylbek Mambetov born in 1986, a native of the village Shubarshi Temir district; Toktarbek Mambetov born in 1984, a native of the village Shubarshi Temir district; Bektemir Urazov 1989, native Temir village Shubarshi area; Miras Karajanov born in 1988, a native of the village Kenkiyak Temir district; Dzhumagazin Aibek in 1988, native of the village Sarykol Temir district; Kuanysh Alimbetov born in 1968, a native of the village Shubarshi Temir district.

In addition, it was reported yesterday that during the raid and killed one officer SWAT SOBRovets of "Arla" Ruslan Zholdybaev.

Also, three other officers were wounded Special Forces. Currently they are in hospital emergency medical help from the city of Aktobe. Their condition is stable.

Now near the village of Shubarshi broken tents, here contracted military equipment, helicopter in the sky runs. To assist the police arrived Aktobe Almaty and special forces from the neighboring regions. On the slopes exposed positions.

"Suspects are not detained so far, because not yet found their place of refuge," - said during an emergency briefing organized on Sunday said the spokesperson of the Regional Department of Internal Affairs Almat Imangaliev. "Checks and their commitment to radical Islam," - said Almat Imangaliev, reports BNews.kz.

All those who can communicate the location of the suspects or other valuable information, the police asking for information on the following telephone numbers: 51-46-08 (helpline duty of the DVD), 51-09-67 (Phone Working Group).

For reliable information, in the capture of such persons, on condition of anonymity guaranteed cash award of $ 100 thousand

Families of officers killed in the PPP and Nurlan Alpysbaya Aidos Buranbaeva akimat of Aktobe region has allocated one million tenge as material aid. Yesterday, the bodies were buried.

As previously reported, in the Aktobe region unknown shot two police officers. According to the press service of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) of Aktobe region, June 30, at about 20.00, sergeants patrol Kenkiyaksogo stronghold Temir police department, and A. N. Alpysbay Buranbaev took over patrols in the village Shubarshi Temir district on official vehicles UAZ.

At about 12 o'clock at night to the reference point (in the village Shubarshi) arrived at by unknown persons in a car "Mitsubishi Delica" fired utility vehicle from an unknown weapon and fled the scene, leaving two policemen and A. N. Alpysbay Buranbaev died on the spot .

Into the killing of police officers criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 96 of the Criminal Code (murder of two or more persons). For the purpose of the disclosure of the offense created some operational investigative groups. During the inspection of the scene, which lasted all night, were seized bullets and cartridge cases. To withdraw from the scene of the subjects will be assigned the appropriate expertise.

"Nurlan Alpysbay police sergeant in 1980, born Shalkar region of Aktobe region, in the bodies of internal affairs, he served from 2002. He is married and has two children. Senior police sergeant Aidos Buranbaev 1972, born Bayganinskogo region of Aktobe

region, in the internal affairs of 2005. He is married and has two children. families of the victims will receive financial aid, "- said the press service said.

photo from www.abakanradio.ru

The hyperlink to the news agency Kazakhstan Today obligatory. Copyright of materials of the agencyViews: 3665

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Akmola regional parliament deputy shot dead

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=652

Kokshetau. June 27. Interfax-Kazakhstan - A deputy of the Akmola regional Maslikhat (parliament) Alexander Klimenko was shot dead in the small hours of Sunday morning in the Novoselskoye village of the Atbasar district of the Akmola region (central Kazakhstan).

The information on the murder was confirmed to Interfax-Kazakhstan by the Atbasar district Prosecutor Kairbek Omarov.

"The assault took place after midnight. Two masked gunmen met Klimenko in the yard of his house and killed him with a shot to the chest. After that they broke into the house, hit the deputy's wife on the head and tied her up," Omarov said.

"According to the surviving wife of the deputy, the assailants rummaged the house looking for money and left at about 4 a.m.," the prosecutor said.

He added that the assailants had driven away in the killed deputy's car.

"An investigation team is working at the scene. We are checking all versions," Omarov noted.

Alexander Klimenko was also director of Klimenko-1 JSC.

Kazakhstan in Focus #21

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Operation of terrorist group broken up in Kazakhstan

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=643

Almaty. June 16. Interfax - A terrorist group that was plotting the removal of local authorities and security services has been neutralized in Almaty, Sergei Pashevich, the president of the Combat Brothers union of veterans of local wars and military conflicts, told Interfax.

"The group had a large arsenal with ammunition, and a list of city officials with their addresses, among them the mayor of Almaty and other influential people. They were planning to kill them," he said.

"The other target was to eliminate special services, whose bases were known to them. They had a sufficiently large arsenal to blow up special police force bases," he also said.

The group was arrested by Kazakh national security services about a couple of weeks or a month ago, Pashevich said, adding that "the three, who were targeted in a special police operation in Almaty in April, were in the same group."

Pashevich could not say how many members there were in the group.

"Their tactic was to arrive in the city one by one and then gather together," he said.

"One thing is certain: they are not Wahhabites. They belong to an absolutely new trend. There were Russians and people of other ethnicity in the group. Most of them are natives of the western Atyrau, Aktobe and Mangistau regions," he said.

A law enforcement official confirmed to Interfax on condition of anonymity that the group has been detained.

"Several groups like that, of two-three members, have been detained. They had the same commanders, but did not know each other. We continue efforts to track them down," he said.

"Weapons, ammunition and lists of officials and police bases were seized from them. I can't be sure whether the Almaty mayor was on the list," he said.

A security operation was carried out by police and Security Force "Sunkar" on April 4 to detain members of an organized criminal group. The suspects offered armed resistance. Two of them were killed and the third detained. Several "Sunkar" policemen were wounded in the operation.

Kazakhstan in Focus #21

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Aktobe suicide bomber was pious and good mannered, neighbors

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=596

Astana. May 18. Interfax-Kazakhstan - People acquainted with Rakhimzhan Makatov, who blew himself up in the building of the National Security Committee in Aktobe, are surprised of his actions.

"Rakhimzhan was a well-educated and well-mannered man. People, who knew him, respected him. A couple of years ago he got married, but soon after that he became obsessed with religion," Makatov's neighbors told Interfax-Kazakhstan.

A source with the local police department familiar with the situation said that Makatov had never been charged with any offence, but has a police record for his involvement in an organized criminal group.

On Tuesday morning Rakhimzhan Makatov committed an act of suicide bombing, inside the Aktobe regional office of the National Security Committee, killing himself and injuring two people.

Kazakhstan in Focus #20

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Aktobe suicide bomber identified - prosecutor's office

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=594

Astana. May 17. Interfax-Kazakhstan - A criminal case has been opened into today's suicide bombing outside the building of the Kazakh National Security Committee's department (KNB) in the city of Aktobe in the west of Kazakhstan.

"The man who blew himself up in Aktobe today has been identified as Rakhimzhan Makhatov," Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office spokesman Zhandos Umiraliyev said at a press briefing in Astana.

"Makhatov himself died in the explosion. Two other people were injured. A criminal case has been opened," he said.

According to Mr Umiraliyev, one of the injured men is a KNB officer, the other is a guard. He said that the explosion happened at 9:30 inside the building of the Aktobe Regional Department of the National Security Committee (KNB).

“Rakhimzhan Makhatov, born in 1986, suspected of committing a number of crimes within an organized crime group, exploded himself inside the KNB building in order to avoid criminal responsibility,” Mr Umiraliyev said.

“Makhatov triggered an improvised explosive device of small capacity that killed him on the spot and injured two people nearby who were then rendered medical assistance," Mr Umiraliyev said.

Kazakhstan in Focus #20

----Citizens of Kazakhstan acting as militants in the Caucasus

http://nord-ost.org/kazakhstan/grazhdane-kazahstana-v-roli-boevikov-na-severnom-kavkaze_en.htmlWritten by Олег ГореловСреда, 06 Июль 2011

Almost simultaneously in Makhachkala and Chelyabinsk, law enforcement officials detained several armed citizens of Kazakhstan who had come (to Russia) to take part in the jihad. Until recently, hunters of human cannon fodder could feel completely at ease in Kazakhstan. As a reporter for 'Nasha Versiya' found out, extremists from the Caucasus not only managed to create an extensive network of training bases where new Kazakh militants are taught to use weapons and explosives, but they were also able to set up transit routes to send them to Russia's southern regions.

News of the participation of Kazakhs in illegal armed groups came as a surprise not only for to inhabitants of Kazakhstan, but also law enforcement bodies. Earlier this month, another battle between police and militants took place in Makhachkala: armed criminals barricaded themselves in a five-story apartment building on Shamil Avenue, and laid down quite furious fire — killing one policeman and wounding another. After blocking the terrorists and finally taking them into custody (according to official information, none of them were killed), their identities have been established. They are residents of the former Soviet city of Aktyubinsk, now known by the Kazakh name of Aktobe: Albert Abdikarimov (born in 1989) and Rainbek Yerzhanov (born in 1990). They did not arrive in this country empty-handed: in addition to automatic weapons and ammunition, an improvised explosive device equivalent to 500 grams of TNT was seized. Another group of Kazakh militants was also arrested in Makhachkalala by the highway patrol, either at the 'Alyaska-20' highway post or on Akushinsky Avenue in Makhachkala. Then, perhaps after deciding that two groups of armed Kazakhs was enough, they sent information to the border posts that in Kazakhstan there is a large group of well-trained and heavily-armed Kazakh militants.

The Chelyabinsk regional coat of arms is adorned with a camel: the city was built on the Central Asia trade routes and became a sort of conduit for Eastern merchants. Today the area has a chance once again to regain its status of a transit point, but this time for armed Central Asian militants en route to the North Caucasus. On the day following the battle in Makhachkala, regional police, they say, were put on high alert status, all government institutions were placed on a pass system, and social facilities and places of mass gatherings were taken under special control. Measures proved effective: law enforcement agencies in a timely manner stopped a 'Gazelle' van with Kazakhstan license plates that was traveling towards Troitsk. Detained were six heavily armed passengers. No information is available about the arrest, as the Kazakh visitors were taken into custody by the FSB.

In confidential conversations, security officials acknowledged that they somehow lost sight of the «Kazakh direction», and that terrorists were quick to take advantage of it. In fact, however, the roots of the problem go way back. In 1990, the Islamic Renaissance Party was founded in Astrakhan, and it set itself the task of uniting Muslims from the North Caucasus republics with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Dominant in the party were Daghestanis and … Kazakhs.

One of the leaders of this organization, Serikbai Yelubaev, has over 20 years of experience in financing criminal gangs, traveling to Arab countries and digging up funding. In a year Yelubaev would finance the terrorist underground on the order of $ 5 million. At one time, members of his party did a lot to organize the terrorist underground in Chechnya and Dagestan. It is strange that such citizens of Kazakhstan, despite their apparent high profile, have managed to elude the watchful eye of the law enforcement bodies. By and large, only last fall did Kazakhstan begin to pay attention, after a special operation in Makhachkala on October 5th, in which Yerlan Yusupov was killed. On his person was a Kazakhstan passport, as well as documents proving that he did not arrive in Dagestan on his own, but as part of a group of seven. Yusupov's accomplices at the time were impossible to locate.

In addition to the weapons and documents of the deceased Kazakh Yusupov, law enforcement found many useful papers that testified to the fact that terrorists from the Caucasus are holed up in Kazakhstan in

earnest. The documents shed light on another dark story, which had already almost been forgotten. In July 2009, in the vicinity of Makhachkala, five militants were killed near the village of Agachaul. The militants resembled inhabitants from Central Asia, and they turned out to be citizens of Kazakhstan.

It also came out that all of them, including Yerlan Yusupov, were trained to be militants in a camp located in western Kazakhstan in the town of Novy Uzen (now known as Zhanaozen). In Soviet times many Dagestani oil workers were located there, and they probably managed to organize the camp with the help of the considerable Dagestani diaspora. In that same city, a militant from another Central Asian country was trained in weapons: Kyrgyz citizen Beksultan Karybekov, who shot a priest in Moscow, one Daniel Sysoev.

Not long ago, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov made an official statement that among militants killed near the Chechnya-Russian border was a citizen of Kazakhstan, Ismail Jafarov, «in whose clothes were found a Kazakhstan passport, driving license, and health insurance card.» Jafarov also trained at the terrorist base in the Novy Uzen.

Jafarov, by the way, was a principal developer of the route for Kazakhs to travel to the North Caucasus. Such groups entered Chelyabinsk in minivans, then disappeared among merchants and day workers, later they would go by train to Volgograd, and later to the Caucasus. FSB operatives guess that about two hundred Kazakh militants may entered the country en route to the North Caucasus republics in this way over the last two years, as well as perhaps one ton of explosives.

A Novy Uzen television station filmed a story on the dead militants, and it was broadcast on the (Kazakhstan capital city) TV channel 'Astana'. The point of the story was such: in Kazakhstan the recruiting of young people is taking place, and they are participating in bandit groups on Russian territory. Serikbai Yerimbetov, attorney general for Mangistau region, which includes Novy Uzen, at the time said that he could find no reason to begin an investigation. According to him, «this was an isolated incident.» Journalists from the local newspaper 'Lada' did not agree, however, and conducted their own investigation: they demonstrated a well-established system of training rebels and getting them into Russia.

«They did not recruit just five Kazakhs, as the government assures us, but many more,» the newspaper wrote. «One of them recently miraculously escaped from the Caucasus with the help of a good Azerbaijani, who bought him a ticket home. But how many of our guys are there, brainwashed by all sorts of so-called (Islamic) missionaries, nobody knows.»

Parents of militants killed in Agachaul, Ibadulla Ismagulov, whose two sons — Elias and Kairat — were killed, and Zhanetta Tokpanova, whose son Kairat was killed, decided to demand justice and to force the local authorities cease stonewalling the issue. Kazakhstan newspapers have published articles on the terrorist bases, huge armories, and large sums that militants and their financiers spend to bribe Kazakh officials. «Kazakhstan is silent, and the (Kazakhstan) National Security Committee is silent,» Tokpanova told journalists from the newspaper 'Lada'. «We couldn't save our children, we overlooked them, but we can help to save others who are duped and deceived, who are promised big money by Dagestanis.»

After the killing of the Kazakh militants in Dagestan, the chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber, Sergei Stepashin, who was there on a visit, remarked: «Eight villains were destroyed, six (actually five of them.— Ed.) were, unfortunately, citizens of Kazakhstan. This is already no longer an internal problem, and one of foreign policy.» The problem, truly, is not only one of foreign policy, but also one that is very unpleasant for the authorities in Kazakhstan, which is considered a strategic partner of Russia. The country has appropriate agreements with Russia in the joint fight against extremism. Nevertheless, at a foreign policy level, the problem is only just now being addressed. A source told 'Nasha Versiya', that the FSB and the NSC of Kazakhstan have formed a special unit to identify and destroy militant bases in western Kazakhstan. The timing of the active phase of operations is in March-April this year.

The chairman of the Muslim Union of Kazakhstan, Murat Telibekov, believes that concerns by the security agencies about a «Dagestani factor» in Western Kazakhstan are «reasonable»: «There really are people who

have sought refuge there, they have defamed Islam and taken up arms against their brothers in Russia, forgetting that our religion teaches love and tolerance of one's neighbors.»

In 'Versiya', 28/02/2011

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Terror trainees convicted in Kazakhstan

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=571

KARAGANDA. April 28 (Interfax) - A court in Temirtau, Karaganda region, Kazakhstan, has sentenced four men to various prison terms for terrorism propaganda and inciting religious hatred.

Two of them have already served prison sentences.

The court found a businessman from Karaganda (the administrative center of the region), an unemployed person from Temirtau and two former convicts guilty of terrorism and inciting social, ethnic, racial or religious hatred, the Kazakhstan National Security Committee's regional department told Interfax on Tuesday.

The Karaganda-based businessman has been sentenced to four years of imprisonment, the Temirtau resident to three years, and the two convicts have had one-year terms added to the sentences they are currently serving.

While in prison the convicts studied video lectures and listened to audio tapes by foreign insurgency leaders Doku Umarov and Said Buryatsky, according to the criminal case files.

The inquiry has found that these lectures were brought to the prison by the businessman and an unemployed man, who watched and discussed the lectures along with other inmates.

"The analysis has shown that the speeches of the two terrorists contain calls aimed at inciting social, racial and religious hatred and animosity," the department said.

Kazakhstan in Focus #19

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Kazakhstan sentences one more activist of Hizb-ut-Tahrir

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=540

PAVLODAR. April 5 (Interfax) - An activist of the extremist Hizb-ut-Tahrir organization banned in Kazakhstan has been sentenced to two years of jail in Pavlodar.

"The defendant was found guilty of involvement in the operations of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir-al-Islami religious association which had been banned by a court judgment," Interfax was told at the court's press service on Friday.

In March the same court in Pavlodar sentenced two young men for membership in Hizb-ut-Tahrir to varying prison terms.

Kazakhstan has declared 13 organizations terrorist and one extremist and their operations in the country are prohibited. They are Al Qaeda, the Islamic Party of East Turkestan, the Kurdish People's Congress, the Islamic Moment of Uzbekistan, Asbat-al-Ansar, the Muslim Brothers, Taliban, Boz Gurd, the Jamaat of Mujahidins of Central Asia, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Society for Social Reform, the East Turkestan Liberation Organization, Aum Shinrikyo and Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

Kazakhstan in Focus #19

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Almaty police busted crime ring, two dead in shootout

http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=in_focus&news_id=541

Almaty. April 5. Interfax-Kazakhstan - The Almaty police have busted an organized crime group in one of Almaty districts suspected of armed assaults and murders, a source in the Almaty police told Interfax-Kazakhstan.

On Monday night a special unit, Sunkar, carried out an arrest operation in Micro-District 3 in Almaty. Sunkar unit officers sustained gunshot wounds when faced armed resistance form the crime group. During the police shootout two criminals were dead, one arrested.

The police searched the apartment and seized a stash of assault arms including submachine gun, rounds of ammunitions and grenades.

The group is also alleged of committing the recent bloody murder of two people in Kalkaman district of Almaty.

Kazakhstan in Focus #19