Kazakhstan arrests Russian accused of recruiting Tajiks to fight

Kazakhstan on Saturday said it had arrested a Russian citizen accused of recruiting Tajikistan citizens and stateless people to take part in armed conflicts.

Kazakh police said on its Telegram channel that a Russian citizen was arrested on April 11 in Almaty after arriving on a plane from Moscow.

It said the man has been "wanted internationally since September 2023 for illegal recruitment of citizens of Tajikistan and stateless persons for their participation in armed units, conflicts or military operations in third countries".

Police said the question of his extradition is ongoing.

The arrest comes three weeks after the attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, which was stormed by gunmen who killed at least 143 people.

Moscow says the main suspects for the attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, are Tajik citizens.

Tajikistan, home to 9.7 million people, made the fight against terrorism a priority after it was bruised by a civil war between 1992 and 1997 involving Islamist fighters.

Cross-border clashes from Afghanistan involving jihadist groups continue to plague the mountainous country, which has also suffered several attacks claimed by IS.

President Emomali Rakhmon said at the start of this year that 2,300 Tajiks were known to have joined IS since 2015.

He said "extremist propaganda" was targeting "young people who go abroad to work".

Around one million Tajiks go to Russia each year for work.

Vulnerable migrants are also used by the Russian army, with many reports of Central Asians being recruited to fight against Ukraine.