MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained 31 chieftains and members of an interregional structure of the Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) in Moscow, the Novosibirsk Region, Yakutsk and the Krasnoyarsk Region during a nationwide sweep, the FSB Public Relations Center told TASS on Wednesday.
"The Federal Security Service in cooperation with the Interior Ministry and Russia’s National Guard as part of a special operation in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Yakutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and in Kansk in the Krasnoyarsk Region, as well as in the hamlet of Prokudskoye in the Novosibirsk Region terminated the activity of an interregional structure of the Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad terrorist organization. Some 31 individuals from among its leadership and participants were detained," the center reported.
According to the FSB, the terrorist cell members recruited and transported adherents to active combat zones, financed the members of the terrorist group located in Syria and incited terror-related crimes.
The FSB reported that the search uncovered proscribed religious literature, Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad’s propaganda videos, as well as communication devices, data storage devices and bank cards. The authorities have opened criminal cases, and active search measures are in progress.