The Ministry for National Security or MNS (Turkmen: Türkmenistanyň Milli howpsuzlyk ministrilgi) is the secret police agency for the government of Turkmenistan.

[8][9][10] In November 2006, Nikolai Gavrilov, the former head of the operational department for combating drug trafficking in the MNB, was killed with his wife in their apartment in Ashgabat.

Prior to his death, it was revealed that he was planning to move to Russia, which caused the authorities to prevent Gavrilov's departure, fearing that the MNB's sponsorship of state drug trafficking would become known.

[11][12] In November 2002, President Niyazov, who at the time had just survived an assassination attempt, accused Uzbekistan and its ambassador in Ashgabat Abdurashid Kadyrov, of assisting the alleged coup leader, former Foreign minister Boris Şyhmyradow.

[15] As a result, Uzbek President Islam Karimov on principle refused to personally participate in the funeral of Niyazov several years later due to the KNB's raid.

[16][17] Amnesty International has claimed that the MNB has persecuted Turkmens for their religious beliefs, and that only members of the Russian Orthodox Church and Sunni Muslims are tolerated.

[20][21] However, opposition media reported that the chief of the 4th Directorate of the Ministry of National Security and certain subordinates had been arrested and charged with trading dollars on the black market.