MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI) – A court in Perm has sentenced a local resident to 5 years in prison for recruiting people for Jabhat al-Nusra, an international terrorist organization banned in Russia, the Federal Security Service’s regional department reported on Monday.

According to the statement, Russian national Gayradjon Tazhibayev has abetted residents of the Perm region to participate in fighting against government forces in Syria.

A criminal case on facilitating a terrorist activity has been launched against him.

According to the UN, over 200,000 people have died in Syria since an armed conflict flared up there in March 2011. Government forces are fighting a number of militant groups. The most active of them are from the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra.