Moscow: Russia has set up a special force
to combat terrorism in the north Caucasus region following a
series of terror strikes that killed over 50 people.
President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a set of new steps
to combat terrorism emanating from the predominantly Muslim
North Caucasus in the wake of a series of terror strikes,
including twin suicide bombing of Moscow metro stations that
led to the death of 54 people and over 120 injured.
"The president ordered the creation of a special
anti-terrorism task force in the North Caucasus Federal
District," the Kremlin said today.
The Federal Security Service head Alexander Bortnikov
and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev are
expected to have the group up and running by April 19, it
said.
Medvedev also ordered officials to prepare a proposal
on a new programme to combat crime and terrorist acts in the
North Caucasus by the end of this month.
Both female suicide bombers Mariyam Sharipova and
Dzhannet Ustarkhanova, who attacked the Lubyanka and Park
Kultury metro stations, hailed from Daghestan - a multi-ethnic
Muslim republic in volatile North Caucasus, bordering
Chechnya.
The Kremlin also said that Medvedev has asked the
Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and other concerned officials
to submit proposals to toughen punishments for accomplices of
terrorists by May 15.
The Kremlin statement said the president`s orders
are stemmed by the necessity of taking into account the
specifics of law enforcement in the North Caucasus when
planning and implementing measures to optimise the Interior
Ministry`s activities.
Last year Medvedev created the North Caucasus Federal
District, headed by a Deputy Prime Minister as part of efforts
to improve the regional economy and discourage locals to join
militant groups.
PTI
