Bishkek (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Over 20 young
Islamists are believed to have left southern Kyrgyzstan to join the rebel
front in Syria. The episode was
reported by the Ata-Jurt conservative nationalist party member Dastanbek Dzhumabekov, who on 17 April asked parliament
to open an investigation.
According to the MP, the youth were recruited in mosques
in southern Kyrgyzstan and flown to Syria
through Turkey. Mametbek Myrzabaev, an official
of the State Committee for Religious
Affairs, confirms that last month 7 young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty years left the
Batken region in
the south of the country.
Recruitment attempts by the Syrian Islamist
fringes have also been reported in many Middle Eastern countries and beyond. Last month, the Tunisian government opened an
investigation into the alleged militancy
of dozens of Tunisians among rebel groups. The young Islamists left the
country on tourist visas for Libya or Turkey, from where
they can then easily enter Syria.
Similar incidents have also occurred
in Europe, where data published by the
King's College of London reported that since the beginning of March 2011, more than 600 activists from 14 countries have
joined the Islamist brigades
in the fight to Assad. On 16 April, the Brussels
police made forty-six checks for suspected
involvement in terrorist activities.