Russia ‘foils’ terror attack on ‘crowded place’ days after 144 murdered in Moscow | World | News
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims to have prevented “a terrorist attack during a mass gathering” in Stavropol Krai in southwestern Russia on Friday, according to Russian state-owned media.
The FSB claimed to have detained three citizens from an unnamed Central Asian country who allegedly planned to carry out a terrorist attack by denotating a bomb at a mass gathering, according to TASS.
“Components of an improvised explosive device, chemicals, and munitions were seized from the detainees at their place of residence,” the FSB said, cited by TASS.
Daily Express US could not independently verify these claims.
The announcement comes almost a week after several armed individuals opened fire at a Crocus City Hall concert venue at the Moscow region of Krasnogorsk, killing more than 140 people.
ISIS-K, an affiliate branch of the Islamic State terrorist group that encompasses parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said it had arrested at least 10 people the day after the attack, including four suspected gunmen.
The four men, identified as Tajik nationals, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
Russian officials, however, have insisted that Ukraine and the West had a role, with President Vladimir Putin claiming that the suspects planned to flee to Ukraine albeit without any evidence.
Ukraine and the US has rejected the Kremlin’s accusations, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Putin of trying to justify the Russian force’s aggression in its ongiong war with Ukraine.
The US embassy in Moscow had warned its citizens earlier this month to avoid large gatherings in the Russian captal “over the next 48 hours” as it was monitoring reports that extremists have “imminent” plans to target these places.
But Putin has reportedly dismissed US warnings about a terrorist attack just three days before the attack, denouncing the warning “blackmail”
“All this resembles outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society,” Putin said, according to Russian state-owned media.
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