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Homicide attemtp on mufti classified as terrorist act

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he had no doubt that the assassins on the Mufti of Tatarstan would be found
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, July 19 (Itar-Tass) — The Russian Investigative Committee has classified an attempt to assassinate Ildus Khazrat Faiz, the Mufti of Tatarstan, as a terrorist act, the Committee’s spokesperson Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

“Additional criminal proceedings have been launched under article 205 of the Russian Penal Code on terrorist charges,” Markin went on to say. He added that a lawsuit on charges of attempted homicide had been filed earlier on Thursday.

“Experienced criminologists and bomb-disposal experts have left Moscow for Kazan,” Markin said.

The homicide attempt on the mufti occurred at the intersection of Chetayev Street in Kazan at about 11:00 on Thursday morning. The mufti was inside his Toyota Land Cruiser Prado car when the bomb struck. Ildus Khazrat Faiz was rushed to hospital with traumas and wounds.

In the meantime, unidentified gunman fired several shots at the mufti’s deputy, Valiulla Yakupov, 48, at approximately the same time on Thursday morning. The man died of wounds in his car. A criminal case on murder charges was opened into Yakupov’s death.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he had no doubt that the assassins on the Mufti of Tatarstan would be found.

“I’ve just talked to the Federal Security Service director. Law enforcers will do everything within their power to find, expose and punish the criminals. I have no doubt that this is going to happen,” the president said at a meeting with the leaders of Russian State Duma factions.

Putin admitted that the situation in the country was far from being ideal. “All of us who’s interested in making this country stronger and developing the economy should carefully analyze the situation and think about the good of the people rather than corporate interests,” the president stressed.

Putin described the terror strike in Kazan as a ‘serious ‘signal’. “We are fully aware of that but this is insufficient. No pre-emptive steps had been made in this case,” the Russian head of state emphasized.

He urged the country’s political parties to prevent “destructive forces from swinging the situation.”

Putin recalled that the closed session of the Russian State Duma had passed a number of bills brushing up the country’s political system. “Everything that has been done is absolutely right. We need to implement the decisions passed fully and adequately,” the president went on to say.

“We shouldn’t allow destructive forces to use the newly adopted decisions to swing the situation, especially in a terrorist manner,” Putin said.