Russia says it thwarted planned attack on synagogue

From Deutsche Welle

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had thwarted a planned “terrorist attack” on a Moscow synagogue, Russian news agencies reported.

The FSB said that a so-called “Islamic State” (IS) cell, based in Kaluga, situated southwest of Moscow, had planned on attacking Jewish worshippers.

“While being arrested, the terrorists put up armed resistance to the Russian FSB officers, and as a result were neutralized by return fire . . . Firearms, ammunition, as well as components for the manufacture of an improvised explosive device were found and seized,” the security service was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying in a statement.

Security services footage circulated by Zvezda news — run by the Russian Defense Ministry — showed FSB personnel searching a house in which the bodies of two men could be seen along with weapons, ammunition and knives.

The FSB said the men had been part of the Afghan branch of IS, but did not state their nationality.

It is not known if this plot is connected to the warning issued by the US and UK embassies this morning about an imminent terror attack today in Moscow.

The UK and US embassies in Russia have warned that a terrorist attack could take place in Moscow within the next 24 hours. The security alert, issued by the US embassy and repeated by the UK, urged American citizens to “avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours”. The embassy said it is “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts,” but it did not specify what kind of threats it referred to, or who might be behind them.

The embassy also advised its citizens to “monitor local media for updates” and “be aware of your surroundings”.