President Vladimir Putin has said Tuesday that Russian intelligence agents have successfully foiled 20 terrorist plots in the country this year. The president further urged the country's officials to increase their efforts to prevent future attacks, according to Fox News.
Speaking in a ceremony at the Kremlin, Putin boldly declared that the FSB intelligence agency has so far foiled 20 terrorist plots, arrested 560 militants and killed 112 suspected terrorists in Russia's North Caucasus in a number of raids and skirmishes.
The Russian president's announcement seems well-founded, as Russian police reported just a few hours after the announcement that they had managed to detain 20 members of a banned Islamic organization in the Moscow region, reported The New York Times.
Putin, however, believes that more can be done. He asked the FSB during his speech to increase its efforts in preventing terror attacks further while urging them to put more effort in uncovering the link of militants in Russia to international terror groups.
Islamic militants have increased in influence in the North Caucasus region of Russia after two wars in Chechnya in the 1990s, with a number of the groups aiming to establish an Islamic state in the country. Moscow believes that some of the militant groups have direct links to the Islamic State.
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