MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. An underground cell linked to the Islamic State international terrorist group (banned in Russia) has been revealed in the Russian Northern Caucasian region of Ingushetia.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee’s (NAC) information center said on Saturday that "criminal activities of a secret cell linked to the Islamic State international terrorist organization have been cut short in a series of actions carried out by the NAC Operative Headquarters in the Republic of Ingushetia and by units of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and Interior Ministry."
"The group consisted of four residents of Ingushetia and had been created for committing crimes against government officials, law enforcers and supporters of traditional Islam," the committee said. "All the members of the gang were detained in the operation."
In the Nazran region, huge caches of weapons were found and eliminated.
"Out of them were confiscated three SVU short sniper rifles ready for use, Kalashnikov assault rifles, silenced guns (with some of foreign make) and over 2,000 ammunition to the small arms," the NAC official said.
Investigative activities and a search operation are ongoing.