BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz police have detained several women who are alleged members of a banned Islamic group.
The State Committee for National Security said on March 3 that an unspecified number of women in the cpital, Bishkek, were detained on suspicion of membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
The committee said investigators found books, CDs, DVDs, and other electronic data carriers containing extremist materials.
The announcement came a day after officials in the Naryn region had said that they had detained five alleged members of the same group.
Reports of arrests of alleged members of Hizb ut-Tahrir and other banned Islamic groups have increased in recent weeks in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz authorities say Hizb ut-Tahrir plays a role in a strategy used by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants to radicalize youth and recruit them to fight in Syria and Iraq.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned across Central Asia and in Russia, says it is peaceful.
