Twelve members of extremist cell detained in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Moscow
MOSCOW. June 21 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported the detention of 12 members of a cell of the extremist religious organization al-Takfir wal-Hijra.
"The cell members were spreading ideas of radical Islam, trying to depose municipal officials, and plotting to create a Sharia-based state in the North Caucasus," the FSB public relations center said in a statement seen by Interfax on Friday.
"Twelve members of the extremist organization have been detained, including one in Moscow," the FSB said, adding that all the detainees are residents of Karachayevo-Cherkessia.
Bladed weapons, firearms, ammunition, flash drives, CDs with terrorist videos, and extremist religious books have been seized from the detainees' homes, it said.
Criminal charges are pending, the statement said.
The FSB detained members of the cell in Karachayevo-Cherkessia in collaboration with the Interior Ministry and the Russian National Guard.