Four Kazakh citizens have been given prison sentences on terrorism charges in southern Kazakhstan.
The Al-Farabi District Court in the city of Shymkent found three locals guilty of "participating in a terrorist group" and financially supporting that group's activities.
They were sentenced to prison terms of eight and nine years.
Another member of the group was found guilty of illegal weapons possession and sentenced to five years in jail.
Investigators say the four men organized a terrorist group and between 2011 and 2013 had propagated extremist and terrorist ideas while recruiting young Kazakhs to join illegal armed groups fighting in Syria against government forces.
Online sources have reported about hundreds of men and women from Central Asia and Caucasus countries fighting in the ranks of the Islamic insurgency in Syria.
