Terrorists inclined to use Internet to recruit teenagers, Russian official says
KRASNOYARSK, May 25. /TASS/. The Internet is becoming one of the main instruments for recruiting terrorists, an adviser to the chairman of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, Andrei Przhezdomsky, said on the sidelines of the 8th national forum Advanced Security Systems - Antiterror underway in Krasnoyarsk. He pointed out that the age of terrorists operating underground in Russia and other countries was going down.
"The main contingent [of terrorists - TASS] are young people recruited in social networks. Their intellectual level and education leaves much to be desired," he said. Some members of terrorist organizations were as young as 17-18.
"Such people are very hard to detect using only their habits and behavior. They are very different people. The special services and the whole law enforcement system and analysts have to work really hard these days to examine and classify all this information," Przhezdomsky said.
Young terrorists are a Russian and worldwide trend. "They [young terrorists] are brainwashed to commit terrorist attacks with the most primitive weapons - a motor vehicle or a hacking knife," he said.
The national specialized forum Advanced Systems of Security - Antiterror opened in Krasnoyarsk on May 24. It will end on May 26.