BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz security officers have detained three men who allegedly fought alongside Islamic State (IS) fighters in Syria.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on June 17 that the suspects were apprehended on June 10 in the southern region of Batken that borders Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

According to the UKMK, the suspects returned from Syria earlier this year with the alleged intention of conducting a series of terrorist acts across Kyrgyzstan.

Investigators have found assault rifles, ammunition, grenades, and extremist literature in the suspects' houses, the UKMK said.

Kyrgyz authorities said earlier that more than 500 Kyrgyz citizens had joined the IS group in Syria and Iraq.