Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) has acknowledged for the first time that the banned terrorist group Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) poses a threat to that country's security.
KNB deputy chairman Kabdulkarim Abdikazymov told journalists in Astana on December 4 that "a certain number of Kazakhstani citizens and Kazakhstan-born individuals" are members of the group, which is based on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
The group was officially banned in Kazakhstan in November 2011 after Jund al-Khilafah claimed responsibility for bombings in the western city of Atyrau and attacks against police in the southern city of Taraz.
Based on reporting by tengrinews.kz and Interfax