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Kazakhstan Says It's Cooperating In Marathon Bombing Case

A collection of fireworks that the U.S. Justice Department says were found inside a backpack that belonged to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
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A collection of fireworks that the U.S. Justice Department says were found inside a backpack that belonged to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The government of Kazakhstan says it's cooperating with U.S. officials in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings, a day after two men from the Central Asian country were charged in connection with the blasts that killed three people and wounded more than 250.

"As we have repeatedly stressed, Kazakhstan strongly condemns any form of terrorism," a statement from Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry office read, according to The Boston Globe. "The Kazakhstan side is cooperating with the U.S. law enforcement bodies in their investigation."

The Globe writes:

"The brief statement also outlined the charges against Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, who were both charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. They allegedly disposed of a backpack and a laptop that they found in the dorm room of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of planning and executing the Boston bombings.

'We would like to emphasize that our citizens did not receive charges of involvement in the organization of Boston marathon bombings,' the Kazakhstan foreign minister's office said. 'They were charged with destroying evidence.'

The foreign minister's office also said that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were receiving 'the necessary consular assistance' but did not elaborate on what that assistance might entail.

'Their guilt has not been proven and the investigation is ongoing,' the statement read."

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were charged Wednesday with attempting to destroy evidence by disposing of a backpack and laptop thought to have belonged to suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports that, "Forensics experts are combing through the computer's hard drive now looking for things Tsarnaev searched for and possibly deleted."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.