Security authorities in Russia's Tatarstan region have detained 14 alleged members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization.
The regional branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on April 24 that the suspects were detained after an operation in which 14 homes were searched in Tatarstan’s capital, Kazan, and nearby districts.
FSB officers confiscated books with suspected extremist content, it said.
Authorities in Russia and other former Soviet republics say Hizb ut-Tahrir plays a role in a strategy used by Islamic State (IS) militants to radicalize young people and recruit them to fight in Syria and Iraq.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a London-based Sunni political organization that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate.
The group, which is banned in Russia and Central Asian former Soviet republics, says it is peaceful.
