Police capture “lone wolf" who killed five people in Almaty
The suspect is a 26-year-old man, who had managed to escape after attacking a police station. He apparently embraced radical Islam whilst in prison on robbery and weapons possession. Meanwhile, the government is cracking down on terrorism. Some 300 young people went to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State.
Astana (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Kazakh authorities announced the capture of the man who yesterday opened fire on a police station in Almaty, the country’s commercial capital, killing three policemen and two passers-by.
The head of the country's National Security Committee identified the suspect as Ruslan Kulikbayev, a 26-year-old man who adopted radical Islam whilst serving a sentence for robbery and weapons possession.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev described the incident as a "terrorist act."
Police said that the suspect had no accomplices and acted alone. Authorities had initially said they rounded up two suspects, but later described the other man as a motorist forced to drive the suspect away from the scene of the attack.
Kulikbayev became close to Salafists – ultra-conservative Muslims – when serving a prison sentence, security officials said.
After the capture, the authorities in the largest Central Asian country lowered the threat level from red to yellow.
However, in recent months, Kazakhstan has had to face the threat of Islamic terrorism, which is spreading among young people. In fact, Kazakh authorities say some 300 Kazakh nationals have joined the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, a court in Aqtobe, in north-western Kazakhstan, last week sentenced 12 men for attempting to join IS group in Syria.
The court decision is part of a crackdown sparked by last month’s attack in the same town, perhaps by Islamic militants, that left 18 people dead.
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