TASHKENT, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Uzbek police have arrested 21 people with suspected linkage to Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, an international terrorist organization operating in Syria, the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Tashkent said Wednesday.
The men were detained following a raid in 18 locations in the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent on Wednesday, the department said in a statement.
"According to police information, the men were under the ideological influence of Uzbek citizen A. Shodibekov, born in 1996 in Tashkent, who is currently a member of the international terrorist organization in Syria," it said.
"They planned to finance the group and consequently join it," it said, adding the police have seized material evidence and an investigation is underway.
Uzbekistan's Supreme Court declared Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad an international terrorist organization in 2016.
