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Lawmaker: IS sponsors once tried to break Chechnya from Russia

The lawmaker said Russia is thus fighting for its own security in Syria
Aymani Khadzhi Kadyrova Mosque in Argun, Chechnya Dmitry Rogulin/TASS
Aymani Khadzhi Kadyrova Mosque in Argun, Chechnya
© Dmitry Rogulin/TASS

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. Sponsors of Islamic State, a terrorist group banned in Russia, once tried to break Chechnya away from Russia, the chairman of the State Duma lower house’s international affairs committee, Alexey Pushkov, said on Friday.

"Those behind Islamic State are the same people who were in the past destabilizing Central Asia and attempted to break Chechnya away from Russia," Pushkov said at talks with a delegation of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party.

"That is why, it not an abstract threat for us, and in carrying out our military operation in Syria we are indeed fighting for the strengthening of our own security," he said, explaining Russia’s stance.

Russia’s Aerospace Forces launched pinpoint strikes against the Islamic State targets in Syria on September 30. The Russian air group in Syria comprises more than 50 warplanes and helicopters.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, air strikes are delivered at military hardware, communications centers, transport vehicles, munitions depots and other terrorist infrastructure facilities. The military operation is conducted at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.