ET has learnt that the Russian security agency FSB had eliminated two terror groups comprising youth from Central Asia between February and early March before the third group struck at Crocus City Hall last week, killing more than 100 people.
The Indian security establishment is closely monitoring the situation and the emerging pattern of terror threat in Russia and Central Asia. On Sunday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and conveyed condolences over the terrorist attack. Russian national security advisor Nikolai Patrushev has called for wider partnership to counter the terror threat and radical cells. On the morning of March 7, the FSB conducted a special operation in the village of Koryakovo, Kaluga region of Russia. Two terrorists from Central Asia were killed in the operation, according to security analysts. FSB was assisted by Kazakh security officials in the operation.
ET has learnt that the FSB had acted upon reliable inputs to eliminate terrorists ahead of the presidential elections and were keeping a watch on ISIS-Khorasan terrorists since the beginning of the year.
According to the FSB, members of the Vilayat Khorasan group (a branch of Islamic State) were planning an armed attack on a Moscow synagogue. The FSB had, in fact, introduced enhanced round-the-clock duty for counter-terrorism department and transport units in Moscow and nearby regions between March 8 and 10. It is felt that the third group carried out the attack on March 22 taking advantage of the situation. Sources, who did not wish to be identified, told ET that sections of Tajiks have been radicalised by Pakistan seminaries and have subsequently been part of ISIS and got shelter in Turkey. One of the sources alleged that Ukrainians might have found it easy to recruit them to target Russia.
The source also alleged that a Pakistan-Turkey nexus has a strong common radical component and Turkey hosts radical elements from West Asia and Central Asia.
