Uzbekistan: 19-year-old girl led ISIS-affiliated group.
Uzbekistan’s State Security Service has announced the arrest of four people following the identification of a group affiliated with the “Khorasan” branch of ISIS in the city of Namangan in the country.
According to a report on Saturday, July 20, by the news website “Gazeta.uz”, the group was launched by a 19-year-old girl who had studied in Istanbul, Turkey, and its activities were carried out within the framework of secret meetings.
According to security officials, 16 people were present at the group’s meeting place during the inspection operation. 37 mobile phones, 51 volumes of religious books without publisher information, 40 DVDs, four flash drives, a laptop and a tablet were discovered and confiscated from this location.
Investigations show that the ideological propaganda of international terrorist organizations, including calls for “jihad” and “martyrdom,” was actively promoted in the group’s meetings. One of the members of this cell was identified as the founder of a private university in Namangan.
Criminal cases have been opened against the leader and three active members of the group, and they are currently in temporary detention. Other identified members are also being interrogated.
