Terrorists focus their efforts on countries where authorities are weak

Terrorists focus their efforts on countries where the authorities are weak, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov told the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on Thursday.

“The terrorists focus special efforts on those countries where the legitimate authorities were earlier considerably weakened or in fact eliminated, in some cases as a result of direct foreign intervention,” he said.

Bortnikov said that in Syria the combat potential of the terrorist organization Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) had been considerably undermined with Russia’s support and its organizational structure and supply channels eliminated.

“The bandits were forced to curtail open confrontation to opt for sabotage. Their attacks against the facilities of government forces are a daily occurrence. Former Islamists who have agreed to surrender to the authorities and members of their families become their victims ever more often,” Bortnikov said. He added that a complicated situation had taken shape in Iraq, where terrorist groups, incorporating militants being forced out of Syria, were using guerilla warfare tactics and committing large-scale terrorist attacks.

“As the Islamic State and al-Qaeda (outlawed as a terrorist organization in Russia) have considerably lost positions in the Middle East, these organizations’ ringleaders have been gradually shifting the focus of attention to countries in Southeast and Central Asia. Special attention is paid to Africa,” the FSB chief said.

Source: TASS