Moscow: The chief of Russia`s security services said 170 insurgents had been arrested this year and 10 terror attacks had been prevented, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.
Two suicide bomb blasts on the Moscow metro on March 29 killed 40 commuters, while shootouts and bomb attacks in the turbulent regions in the North Caucasus has led to a steady stream of casualties this year.
FSB security service Director Alexander Bortnikov also told Russian media that his officers uncovered a network of more than 40 participants behind the November 27, 2009, bombing of a train traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg that killed 26.
"More than 170 militants and their accomplices have been detained since the start of the year, and ten terror attacks have been prevented. Over 150 kilograms of explosives and 100 improvised bombs have been seized from militants," Interfax quoted him as saying.
Investigators also believed there was a link between the Moscow metro bomb attacks and a suicide bombing two days later on March 31 in Kizlyar, in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan that killed 12, including a top police official.
"The perpetrators and organizers of the terrorist attacks on the Moscow Metro and Kizlyar have been identified. The circumstances surrounding the preparations for the crimes and the crimes themselves have been established," Bortnikov said.
Bortnikov said 26 militants involved in the November train attack had been "neutralized" and a further 14 detained, RIA news agency quoted him as saying at a meeting of Russia`s National anti-terrorist committee, which he chairs.
Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility both for the November train attack and the recent Moscow metro bombings, saying they were revenge for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin`s policies in the mainly-Muslim North Caucasus.
He has threatened further attacks on Russian cities.
Bureau Report
