MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. The Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terror groups (outlawed in Russia) are still active despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov told the IX Moscow Conference on International Security on Wednesday.
"The challenges to global stability, which existed before the coronavirus pandemic started, such as international terrorism and extremism, have not gone anywhere. The activity of armed units of IS and Al-Qaeda, and groups linked to them in the Middle East and on the African continent is still high," Bortnikov said.
According to him, the penetration of terrorists in Afghanistan and Southeast Asian countries is ongoing, and last year terror attacks went on there unabated. "Additionally, residents of some European cities once again became the victims of terrorism and religious extremism," the FSB chief said.
"Let's be frank - despite the counter-terrorism measures taken, the international terrorist network still manages to maintain its vitality and activity," the FSB director said.
He stressed that the terrorist network is capable of rapid dispersal and redeployment of militants to the areas of hostilities, and still has sufficient resource support, has almost no shortage of weapons and ammunition, and uses high-tech means of carrying out attacks, including drones.
"This is, among other things, a consequence of the continued use by some states of radical Islamist groups in the zones of territorial conflicts in order to achieve their own goals," Bortnikov noted.