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Terrorist training camps emerge in Latin America, says Russian GRU

Chief of GRU military intelligence service Igor Kostyukov said the region is witnessing cases of extremist actions affiliated with terrorist organizations,including al-Qaeda and IS, outlawed in Russia

© Sergei Bobylyov/TASS

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Terrorist training and harbor camps have sprung up in Latin America, Chief of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service Igor Kostyukov told the 8th Moscow Conference on International Security on Thursday.

"Among the new risk factors we can single out the emergence of jihadist training camps and harbors in the region," he stressed.

According to the official, the region is witnessing cases of extremist actions affiliated with a number of terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and ISIS. Kostyukov underlined that these groups "are recruiting militants to fill their ranks in the Middle East and North Africa, gathering the funds needed for that and spreading extremist ideology primarily among six million Muslims living in the region."

The 8th Moscow Conference on International Security is held on April 23-25. Its agenda includes the most significant issues arising when formulating approaches to the international security, exchange of opinions on the modern military dangers and threats, including the modernization of the arms control system. The participants will discuss the situation in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Defense Ministers from at least 35 countries and more than 1,000 experts from 100 states are attending the Conference.

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