KZBlog

Despite the official statement by the General Prosecutor’s Office that the suicide bomber in Aktobe was a suspected criminal who killed himself to avoid answering for his crimes, there seem to be indications that the attack was religiously motivated.

Central Asia Online is reporting that Rakhymzhan Makhatov, age 25, had become more religious since getting married 2 years ago. And according to one report, the KNB stated Makhatov and his wife were members of a extremist Islamic group. However, given Kazakhstan’s paranoia about religious groups, including mosques that do not follow the State created and controlled Muslim Board, it isn’t clear what is meant by “extremist”.