Attack on Christian church foiled in Islamic region of Russia FSB

The agency said the three suspects also planned to attack police officers in the city of Kaspiysk.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said Russian law enforcement agencies had foiled a series of potential terrorist attacks in the south of the country and detained a number of suspects.

In a statement on Saturday, the FSB said the agency and the Interior Ministry had detained three residents of the Dagestan city of Kaspiysk who were allegedly linked to an undisclosed terrorist organization.

The officers added that the suspects intended to “commit sabotage and terrorist acts against local law enforcement officials as well as the Orthodox Church.”

As a result of the operation, agents found homemade explosive devices, components for the production of such devices, bladed weapons and terrorist flags in the suspects’ homes. Other items included manuals on urban and forest combat, shooting and assembly of explosives, incendiary devices and grenades.

The FSB added that the detainees had confessed. The agency also released a video showing the suspects being arrested and brought in for questioning. One of the detainees told agents that the group planned to use explosives to blow up a church, while another revealed that they planned to attack patrolling officers on the street with knives.

Earlier this month, the FSB claimed to have uncovered another plot to attack an Orthodox church in the Republic of Adygea, also in the southern part of the country. The agency arrested a migrant from the Central Asian republic who later confessed to viewing propaganda materials produced by the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

The statement came after a group of armed men in Dagestan attacked several targets in two cities in June, including two churches, a synagogue and a police station. A total of 22 people, including 17 police officers, were killed in the shootings, and about 50 others were wounded. Local authorities said six of the gunmen were killed by law enforcement.

(RT.com)