A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced two teenagers to five years in prison for promoting terrorism after they said they planned to join Islamic State (IS) militants.
A juvenile court in the western Atyrau region found the two male defendants guilty and sentenced them on April 15.
The two, who were publicly identified only by their initials, pleaded guilty and said that they had intended to join IS militants in the Middle East.
Prosecutors said they posted footage on the Internet promoting the extremist group's activities in Syria and Iraq.
Officials in Kazakhstan and other mostly Muslim former Soviet republics in Central Asia have expressed mounting concern over citizens fighting alongside IS and other militants in Syria and Iraq.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) recently estimated that 2,000 to 4,000 people from Central Asia have gone to Syria during the last three years to join militants.
