Russia Thwarts Terror Attacks On Churches In North Kaupas

UNSPLASH/Klaus Wright ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it thwarted an attempted terrorist attack on the Orthodox Christian church in the south of the country.

According to TASS, the FSB said an unnamed Central Asian national was planning an attack on Maykop, the capital of the Adypea region in the North Kaupas.

"Terrorists are preparing to attack a religious institution (the Orthodox Church) in the city of Maykop and kill its pastors and guards, then burn the building," the FSB said in a statement.

The militant group's crackdowns have occurred again in recent months in North Kaucases, which in the 1990s and 2000s were hit by war and insurgency from Chechens.

Last month, 22 people were killed in a simultaneous attack on the church, beaten and police checkpoints in two cities.

In March, an attack claimed by ISIS killed 145 people at a concert building on the outskirts of Moscow. Russia arrested suspects of armed men and a number of accomplices, mostly residents of Tajikistan.

The FSB said the suspect was a member of a banned international terrorist organization but was not named. Investigators have seized flags and other materials belonging to the organization, as well as a knife and components for incendiary devices.