Russia’s FSB has foiled a terror attack in Moscow as they managed to kill two and detain one of the militants planning it, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said. “Our forceful actions prevented an attempted act of terror in the capital,” the National Anti-Terror Committee said in a statement.
“According to some information, the militants were under surveillance during the past month,” a source from one of the intelligence agencies told RIA Novosti. The three men are “Russian citizens, arrived from Afghani-Pakistani region, where they have been trained,” the committee said. All three are said to practice Islam.
Some reports suggest that the militants underwent training in Pakistan’s Northern Waziristan, however, it is unknown which group they belong to.
“The information about their possible involvement in the ‘Islamic movement of Uzbekistan’ is being checked. Moreover, special forces are trying to find out if there were contacts and connection with militants among Moscow regions residents,” RIA Novosti reported, citing an intelligence agency source.
According to Russian special services, Waziristan is a hotbed of Taliban extremism.
“There are also training camps for terrorists who come from all over the world. The US authorities have repeatedly appealed to the government of Pakistan with a proposal to hold an operation to eliminate militants, Pakistan, however, has been refusing,” Interfax quoted its source from intelligence service as saying.
As FSB forces approached the house in a small town in the Moscow region and demanded the suspected militants to surrender, the men opened fire in response. “In the exchange of fire two of them were killed and one detained,” the statement reads.
One Special Forces officer has sustained a wound of his leg and was taken to local hospital. There are no casualties or injuries among civilians. It was not specified where the terror attack was planned to take place. But, a source in one of Russia’s intelligence agencies told RIA Novosti, it was to be in central Moscow.
“The information about the specific location is not being made public in the interests of the investigation,” the source said.