Belarusian KGB registered an increase in terrorist threats coming from the neighboring states

The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB) has been registering an increase in terrorist threats coming from the territory of neighboring states, KGB Chairman Ivan Tertel said on Tuesday after presenting a report to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“Unfortunately, they [terrorist threats] originate from the territory of our neighbors, as a rule, the countries Belarus borders on,” Tertel stated, quoted by the BelTA news agency.

He stated that “foreign disruptive centers and the intelligence agencies that oversee them”, along with “interested political circles” are trying to revive protest activity and destabilize the situation in Belarus during the spring. “The plans have been mentioned for the last few months. We are ready for it and will take every measure in order to make the persons and organizations, who undertake such attempts, face responsibility in line with the legislation,” the KGB chairman stated.

He also confirmed the information stated by Lukashenko on March 5 on the detention of a new terrorist group and the seizure of their weapons and ammunition. “A large amount of weapons, ammunition, means to remotely detonate explosive substances has been seized. Those are rather well-trained professionals,” Tertel informed.

Nevertheless, the KGB considers the situation in the country stable, the KGB chief stated. “According to our estimates, the situation in the country will be stable and law enforcement agencies have sufficient resources to respond to various threats,” he assured.

Nationwide demonstrations engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote.

His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities.

During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The opposition is beating the drum for more protests, announcing new mass actions in the spring. Belarusian authorities have repeatedly claimed that the protests are being coordinated from abroad.

Source: TASS