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FSB chief: ‘All hotbeds of terror activity and ringleaders in North Caucasus eliminated’

The set of measures implemented ended in January with the elimination of the remaining forces of the Byutukayev terrorist group, the FSB chief said

Director of the Federal Security Service of Russia Alexander Bortnikov Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

Director of the Federal Security Service of Russia Alexander Bortnikov

© Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. All the ringleaders of the militant groups that were active in the North Caucasus have been eliminated, Chairman of the National Anti-Terror Committee, Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia Alexander Bortnikov said on Wednesday.

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"The operations by security and law enforcement agencies coordinated with the National Anti-Terror Committee helped stabilize the situation in the North Caucasus. As of today, the primary hotbeds of terrorist activity and all the ringleaders have been eliminated," he said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily.

The set of measures implemented under the direction of the Federal Operational Headquarters for Special and Combat Measures ended in January with the elimination of the remaining forces of the Byutukayev terrorist group, the FSB chief said.

"Through their coordinated efforts, federal and regional units of security and law enforcement agencies neutralized the terrorists complicit in the Domodedovo airport blast, the attack on the publishing house in Grozny, a number of other terror acts and other crimes against Russian citizens," he specified.

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