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FSB detains ringleader and subordinates of regional terrorist group in Russia's Tatarstan

The head and his subordinate chieftains of a regional cell of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization have been detained in the Russian republic of Tatarstan

MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. The head and his subordinate chieftains of a regional cell of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) have been detained in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced to TASS on Thursday.

"As a result of a special operation in Tatarstan, conducted by the FSB in cooperation with the Interior Ministry and the National Guards’ forces, a head and his subordinates of a regional branch of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami terrorist organization [outlawed in Russia] have been detained," the FSB press service reported.

"Besides engaging Muslims into becoming a part of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami terrorist organization, they have been also working to set up a closed network structure on the territory of Russia, pursued the task of recruiting people for militant formations of the terrorist organizations active on the territories of the Middle East countries," the statement said.

Investigators confiscated banned literature, technical devices and electronic media "containing extremist, inciting and propaganda materials" from the Hizb ut-Tahrir members, according to the FSB statement.

Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (the Party of Islamic Liberation) is an international religious and political organization founded in 1953. Its goal is to remove all non-Islamic governments and bring back Muslims to the "truly Islamic way of life."

Russia’s Supreme Court banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2003 designating it as a terrorist organization.