Terrorist attack in Aqtöbe 2016
The terrorist attack in Aqtöbe on June 5, 2016 included several attacks in the western Kazakh city of Aqtöbe , in which a total of 25 people were killed, including 18 attackers. There were attacks on two arms shops and a base of the Kazakh National Guard by several armed attackers. In the days that followed, several firefights broke out in the city between security authorities and other suspected Islamist extremists. It was the worst terrorist attack in Kazakhstan to date.
Sequence of events
In an attempt to steal weapons, a group of several Islamist extremists raided two arms shops and a National Guard base. In the Pallada arms shop (Паллада), the attackers shot dead a seller and a security guard and injured three policemen on arrival at the scene. When they left the shop they killed another passerby. In a second attack on the Pantera (Пантера) arms shop, a customer was killed and another injured. In the subsequent exchange of fire with the police, three attackers were killed and one arrested.
In a third attack on a base of the Kazakh National Guard at 2:35 p.m. ( UTC + 5 ), three soldiers were killed. The group of up to 15 armed attackers entered the base with a bus through the entrance gate after they had previously brought it under their control and then forced the bus driver and passengers to alight. They then opened fire on soldiers present, killing three and injuring six of them. The soldiers prevented any further penetration into the interior. One attacker was shot dead by the security forces. A second attacker was injured and arrested.
The following night, another five people were killed and two arrested during an anti-terrorist operation by special forces who were allegedly involved in the attacks. In another exchange of fire between the police and extremists on June 10, another five attackers were killed and two police officers were injured.
Perpetrator
The spokesman for the Kazakh Interior Ministry , Almas Sadubaev, described the attackers as "followers of radical, non-traditional religious movements," a term often used for Islamists in Kazakhstan. Kazakh Interior Minister Qalmuchanbet Qassymov later stated that the instructions for these attacks were said to have come from Syria . Their goal was the capture of weapons and then attacks on prisons and administrative buildings. A total of 45 people were involved, but 19 of them withdrew shortly before the attacks.
Background of the attack
According to an analysis published by the Research Center for Eastern Europe at the University of Bremen, the phenomenon of petty crime and violent extremism growing together has been observed in Kazakhstan for years, with thefts and robberies being committed to finance extremist activities. Compared to other countries, radical religious ideas are not very widespread in Kazakhstan. The analysis seems to refer to surveys by the Pew Research Center without explicitly naming the source of the data material offered.
The analysis also refers to an empirical study carried out as part of a research project by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Center for Security Programs by the Center for Social and Political Research, in the course of which interviews with 13 in the Kazakh prisons in Aqtöbe, Atbasar, Arkalyk and Aktau, detained prisoners (Aqtöbe: 8, Arkalyk: 3, Atbasar: 1, Aktau: 1).
The motivation of the perpetrators often lies in experiences of violence in early childhood, general social neglect and early contact with criminal and semi-criminal milieus in socially disadvantaged areas in Kazakhstan.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tass: attackers detained, four killed in anti-terrorist operation in Kazakhstan's Aktoba ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on June 7, 2016.
- ↑ Astana Times: Four Aktobe Attackers Killed, Seven Captured, Say Authorities , accessed June 7, 2016.
- ↑ Astana Times: Five Aktobe Attack Suspects Killed Overnight in Clashes with Antiterrorism Forces , accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ AP: Kazakhstan says 5 suspected militants killed in sweep , accessed June 15, 2016.
- ↑ Reuters: Suspected militants attack Kazakh guard base, kill six , accessed on June 15, 2016.
- ↑ Eurasia.net: Kazakhstan: Authorities See Syrian Link in Aktobe , accessed on June 15, 2016 (English).
- ↑ Serik Beissembayev: From petty criminal to god warrior . In: Research Center for Eastern Europe at the University of Bremen (Ed.): Central Asia Analyzes . NO. 101.Bremen May 27, 2016.
- ↑ 1615 L. Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 202 419 4300 | Main 202 419 4349 | Fax 202 419 4372 | Media Inquiries: The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society. In: Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. April 30, 2013, accessed June 9, 2016 .
