Special services of Kyrgyzstan have prevented attempted terrorist attacks on a church and near a New Year’s tree in the city of Jalal-Abad in the south of the republic, a spokesperson of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security told Sputnik on Thursday.
The spokesperson said in a statement that two sixteen-year-old members of the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISIS–K), a regional branch of the Islamic State terrorist group, have been detained in the course of counterterrorist activities in the territory of Jalal-Abad.
“The said individuals were recruited through the internet into the ranks of the ISIS–K. On the instructions of foreign emissaries of the ISIS–K, they were planning to plant an IED [improvised explosive device] near the main Christmas tree in the central square of Jalal-Abad and also were planning to organize a terrorist attack and an armed attack on the Assumption of the Mother of God Orthodox Church in Jalal-Abad,” the spokesperson said.
“Irrefutable evidence of the preparation of a terrorist act, correspondence with the emissaries of the ISIS–K, action plan and instructions on how to make improvised explosive devices, as well as video recordings of the oath of allegiance [bay’ah] to the leader of the ISIS–K,” has been found during the examination of the phones of the detained individuals, the spokesperson added.
The state committee added that it has launched an investigation into the “act of terrorism” and is looking for possible accomplices of the suspects.
