A Tehran-backed militia in Iraq, Kata’ib Hezbollah, is responsible for recent terrorist activity targeting Jewish institutions in Kazakhstan, according to a report by Iran International.
Sources told the London-based news outlet that the Shia jihadists have been carrying out their activities in the Central Asian country through a Tajik operative identified as Muhammad Ali Burhanov.
Burhanov, also known as Sayed Hamid al-Tajiki, is alleged to have been linked to several antisemitic attacks in Kazakhstan’s largest municipality, Almaty, that included a shooting at the city’s Jewish Agency and a number of arson incidents in the area.
Burhanov reportedly studied at Al-Mustafa University in Iran, a known recruitment location for leaders of the Islamic Republic’s many allied militant groups.
In addition to his attendance at Al-Mustafa, Iran International accused Burhanov of being backed by the regime’s Quds Force’s Department 400, a secretive bureau that conducts the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ covert overseas operations.
Despite its goal of creating a Tehran-aligned government in Baghdad, Kata’ib Hezbollah has intervened in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, deployed munitions at U.S. military personnel in Jordan, and offered assistance to Hassan Nasrallah’s forces in Lebanon to help in their conflict with Israel.
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