Russia’s Federal Security Service detained the members of an ISIS-linked cell, who were planning a terror attack with explosives in the southern Volgograd Region.
© The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
Five men were detained by the FSB with the help of the local police, with concerns that they were planning a terroristic attack, in the town of Pallasovsk, Volgograd region, the security agency said.
The detained were members of the so-called ‘Pallasovsky Jamaat’ group, which “was involved in recruitment… of residents of the region to participate in activities of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS] international terrorist organization,” the FSB added.
The agency adds that one of the members of the group ‘’planned to stage a terror attack in the (Volgograd) region.’’
“Ammunition, explosives as well as other chemical compounds and striking elements for improvised explosive devices, literature of religious and extremist nature were found and seized at their place of residence,” the FSB said in the statement.
A criminal case “on organization of an illegal armed group or participation in one” has been launched against the detained Pallasovsky Jamaat members.
© The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Distric in Russia with population of over 1 million people. In the past three years, the city has a seen a series of suicide attacks.
In October 2013, a terrorist blew herself up on a bus, killing six people and injuring more than 30 others.
On December 29 of the same year, a suicide blast in Volgograd train station took the life of 18 people died and wounded 44 more.
The next day, an explosion in a trolleybus, killed 15 passengers and injured over 30 others.