More than 500 criminal engagements in illegal armed units registered in Dagestan in 2015
MAKHACHKALA. May 25 (Interfax) - The number of criminal engagements of citizens in illegal armed units grew in Dagestan in 2015, Dagestani Prosecutor Ramazan Shakhnavazov said at a regional crime prevention conference on Tuesday.
"Last year the republic registered 504 criminal engagements of citizens in illegal armed units [379 in 2014], including 175 departures of our citizens to Syria to join international terrorist organizations," Shakhnavazov said.
The rate of terrorist and extremist crimes committed in that period grew from 472 to 679 and from 50 to 82, respectively.
The terrorist crime rate increased due to more active efforts of police in the exposure of abettors of militants and, to a certain extent, due to the improved monitoring of postings in the media and online, the republican prosecutor said.