An alleged supporter of a terror group planned to blow up a building housing law enforcement in Dagestan, security forces say
FSB of Russia
Russia’s Federal Security Service, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has reportedly thwarted a planned terrorist attack against law enforcement officers in the southern Republic of Dagestan.
The authorities have detained a 27-year-old female supporter of a banned international terrorist organization, according to a press release published on Friday. The suspect was allegedly planning to detonate an improvised explosive device at an administrative building housing law enforcement in Khasavyurt, the second largest city of the republic.
Officials seized components intended for the construction of the explosive device during the arrest raid. Messages found on her electronic devices allegedly show she had specified plans for the bombing and her loyalty to the group, which is banned in Russia.
FSB of Russia
Last year, the director of the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Aleksandr Bortnikov warned that international terrorist organizations were ramping up their propaganda efforts in Russia’s North Caucasus regions.
According to the official, the groups were spreading “radical strains of Islam [which are] not traditional to Russia” focusing on spreading their messages online as well as through unofficial places of worship. Preventing the spread of terrorist ideologies in the North Caucasus should be the authorities’ top priority, Bortnikov said.