MOSCOW – Russian security forces have thwarted acts of terror planned bythe Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Moscow.
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) disclosed onFriday that Daesh had planned to launch a series of attacks on high-profiletargets in an area of the capital, Moscow, where the 2018 World Cup is dueto take place from June 14 to July 15.
The domestic security service said in a statement it had dismantled afour-member sleeper cell behind the planned attack. It said the terroristcell, which originally came from Siberia, was taking orders from anindividual in Syria via the Telegram messenger service.
The FSB added in its statement that 20 people were detained in a relatedspecial operation in the town of Novy Urengoy, around 2,300 kilometersnortheast of Moscow.
The FSB did not provide further details on the exact dates and locationsthat the attacks were to be carried out.
Russian security forces, which have increased security measures to hold asafe FIFA World Cup this summer, said earlier this month that the agency’spersonnel had foiled several other terrorist attacks of the same nature.