7 Feb 2019 17:59

ISIL member jailed for 6 years in Tajikistan

DUSHANBE. Feb 7 (Interfax) - A court in Panj district, Khatlon region, southern Tajikistan, sentenced a local resident, Rustamdzhon Mengatov, to six years of imprisonment at a high-security facility after finding him guilty of involvement with Islamic State (ISIL, a terrorist organization banned in Russia), the country's prosecutor general's office stated.

A few years ago Mengatov moved to Afghanistan where he trained at a militant camp and participated in the activities of an extremist organization banned in Tajikistan, the agency said.

Later, as a migrant worker in Russia, he moved to Turkey in March 2015 and joined ISIL. In Turkey the man recruited fellow countrymen for fighting against Syrian government troops.

In the middle of April 2017, Mengatov returned from Turkey to Tajikistan and continued recruitment in Panj district, the statement said.