Detention of alleged militant in Cherkessk reminds of single attacks by IS* members

The young man, detained in Cherkessk on suspicion of preparing a terror act, was arrested. The level of terrorist threat in the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) is low; the planned explosion could have been a single action, although no concrete proofs of the detainee's guilt have been presented, analysts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 1, in the city of Cherkessk, FSB agents detained a 20-year-old resident of the neighbouring Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). According to the FSB, the detainee had been preparing a terror act against law enforcers and acted on the instructions of the militants from the "Islamic State" (IS)*, a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court.

The detainee has confessed to "wanting to blow everyone up," the "Kommersant" writes. In the opinion of operative agents, this is "a loner, obsessed with jihad against law enforcers." The "Kommersant" has recalled the last year's attempted terror act near the FSB building in the Malokarachay District.

The method of double explosion, when law enforcers gathered at the venue of the first explosion, after which they were attacked by suicide bombers or the triggered second bomb nearby, was often used by terrorists in Northern Caucasus in late 1990s and early 2000s. Then, the terrorist organization "Imarat Kavkaz", also banned in the Russian Federation, claimed responsibility for such actions. When most of its leaders and active members were liquidated, the main terror threat, according to the FSB, began coming from IS* supporters.

The detention in Cherkessk of a man with components for making a bomb was a performance staged by law enforcers for the sake of awards, Instagram and YouTube users have suggested.

Law enforcers are periodically reporting on detention of suspected lone terrorists in various Russian regions. Thus, on July 9, 2021, it was reported about the detention in the Moscow Region of a 21-year-old citizen of some neighbouring state, who "had prepared a terror act after joining the IS*."