According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), a terrorist sleeper cell has been exposed in Tatarstan, a republic in the east-central part of European Russia.
“At the time of removing weapons from the stash in Naberezhnye Chelny, one of the group members was captured on the spot. Six other members and 11 affiliated citizens were detained. Firearms, ammunition, extremist literature and IS paraphernalia were seized during searched at 18 locations,” the FSB said in a statement released on Tuesday.
A total of 18 people have been detained on suspicion of ties to the cell, which is said to have stocked extremist literature and ISIS equipment.
The cell had been recruiting radically-oriented youths to carry out its terrorist objectives. It was also looking to hold a series of high-impact activities in Russia and then join militants in Syria.
Last week, the FSB dismantled an ISIS cell managed by emissaries in Syria, which was plotting terror attacks in Moscow using firearms and improvised explosive devices.
The FSB has foiled almost 30 terrorism-related activities, including 15 terrorist attacks, over the first nine months of this year. In 2017, some 61 domestic terrorist-related activities were thwarted in Russia, including 18 major terrorist attacks. Some 56 terrorist cells were disbanded.
ISIS is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia as well as in many other countries.