Moscow: The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that its officers arrested 11 members of an underground cell of the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) in the region of Karachayevo-Circassia in North Caucasus.
“The Federal Security Service of Russia … in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic, has detained 11 citizens of Russia, members of an underground cell of the IS international terrorist organization banned in Russia, who were involved in recruiting local residents to terrorism and the propaganda of it [terrorism] on the internet,” the statement read.
FSB officers found and seized weapons at the homes of terrorists, including 10 civilian firearms, a Makarov pistol, a sawn-off hunting rifle, three grenades, a large amount of ammunition and means of communication containing “materials exposing their illegal activities.”
A criminal case has been initiated over organization and involvement in activities of a terrorist organization and the propaganda of terrorism, the FSB said.
A spokesperson for the local FSB office told Sputnik that all 11 were arrested for two months.
