The number of people leaving Russia’s Chechen Republic to join the ranks of Daesh terrorist group in Syria has decreased in 2016, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya Apti Alaudinov said, like reported by sputniknews.com
According to Alaudinov, terrorists’ recruiters had tried to create “hibernating” cells, but their activities were suppressed thanks to the professional competence of law enforcement agencies.
“Thanks to the work conducted by the law enforcement agencies of the region in 2016, we have managed to considerably reduce the number of our people leaving for Syria in order to join terrorist groups. A total of 19 people joined terrorist organizations in Syria last year,” Alaudinov said during a meeting of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov of the region with ministers, regional officials and representatives of the clergy.
Kadyrov in his turn demanded to strengthen cooperation between the government’s agencies, clergy and the republic’s population in order to fight terrorism and extremism.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, over 3,200 Russians left for Syria and Iraq to fight on the side of terrorists since the start of the war, with some 500 of them having left from Chechen Republic. The Russian authorities have repeatedly voiced concern over the threat that the militants fighting abroad on the side of Daesh and other terrorist organizations may return to their countries of origin.
