ASTANA. Oct 21 (Interfax) - Motives of religious extremism were behind recent events in Atyrau in western Kazakhstan, where several dozen people were detained, Marat Azilkhanov, deputy chairman of the Kazakh Agency on Religion, said.
"The preliminary information circulated by law enforcement services confirms that indeed, the people who have been detained did not have direct contacts, but were engaged in email correspondence with foreign countries and received some instructions from them. They even discussed possible financial support from abroad for members of these gangs," Azilkhanov said during a Moscow-Astana TV link-up on Friday.
"[In Atyrau] law enforcement services acted effectively, in advance, when they detained members of religious organizations whose goal was still of an extremist nature," he said.
Twenty-four extremists accused by law enforcement services of plotting to stage terrorist attacks in the region were detained in Atyrau at the end of August and the beginning of September.
Parts of improvised explosive devices were confiscated from the suspects. One of them was killed after putting up armed resistance to police officers detaining him.