MINSK, March 21./TASS/. The work of Belarus' security bloc to counter terrorism should be improved, given the growing radicalization of extremists, Belarusian Prosecutor General Andrey Shved told a meeting of security bloc officials with the participation of President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday.
"The current situation is characterized by the rapid radicalization of extremists’ activity. Terrorist attacks in Machulishchi and Grodno showed once again that it is necessary to improve the work of law enforcement agencies to prevent terrorism," the prosecutor general said.
"First of all it is the movement of weapons, explosives and terrorists themselves across the state border, including with Russia," Shved specified. Timely identification of accomplices among local fighters against the regime, as well as protection of critical infrastructure is necessary, he added. .
The prosecutor general also drew attention to a growing number of "violations of airspace use by drones and very small aircraft." He also pointed to increasingly active attempts to manipulate the youth, as well as the creation of informal movements and militant groups, capable of fulfilling any order for money, which can be used "to stir up the situation and participate in illegal mass gatherings and riots." In this regard, "it is necessary to step up work to prevent and thwart the activity of such movements, their leaders and active participants," the prosecutor general said.
President Alexander Lukashenko previously ordered a harsh "cleanup" throughout the country after the attack on Russia’s A-50 aircraft. Earlier, a number of Belarusian and Russian online media carried reports of damage caused to the A-50 plane at the Machulishchy airfield near Minsk. Lukashenko said on March 7 that a small drone was used to carry out the act of sabotage. The aircraft suffered insignificant damage. The perpetrator, a citizen of Ukraine, Nikolay Shvets, was detained near Minsk.
Earlier, it was reported that an armed foreign national plotting a terrorist attack had been eliminated by officers of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) in Grodno. He opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and hurled a grenade at operatives who had been sent to detain him. A criminal case was opened.