Russia has foiled six terror attacks in 2018, security chief says

April 10 (UPI) — Russia’s Federal Security Service said it has prevented six terror attacks this year, including targets at election stations and in a shopping mall.

Alexander Bortnikov, chairman of the National Antiterrorism Committee and FSB director, said at a meeting Monday that the terrorism-related crimes were to be committed in the first quarter in the regions of Dagestan, Khabarovsk and Sakhalin.

Some of the attacks were foiled at election stations in the Ingushetia and Bashkortostan regions during the Russian presidential election and in a shopping mall in Saratov, Bortnikov said.

Russia’s security service has exposed 12 terrorist cells since the beginning of this year — arresting 189 gang members and killing 15 involved in the crimes.

“In February, two criminals from the Islamic State international terror organization that is outlawed in Russia, who had been plotting a terror attack at an election station during the presidential election, offered armed resistance and were eliminated in the Nazran district in the Ingushetia region during a counterterror operation,” Bortnikov said.

The security chief added that two members of a far-right group, who had also been preparing a terror attack at Ufa’s election stations, were arrested in the Bashkortostan region in March. Two home-made explosives were also confiscated.

“Members of an IS cell who planned to commit a terror attack in a shopping mall in Saratov were eliminated the same month in the Saratov region after offering resistance,” Bortnikov said. “Weapons and improvised bombs with the explosive power were found.”