Russia’s Anti- Terror Campaign

 

Despite pressure from Jordanian officials on Russia to prevent an attack on Iraq–a country the US, Britain and a few other countries have found to be a sponsor of terror–Russia has been aggressively conducting it’s own anti-terror campaigns within Russian territories.

Grozny, was the site of a recent terrorist attack that killed 57 innocent people while they were at work and wounded over 150 others. Since that time security efforts to protect civilians and hunt out terrorists have intensified an already aggressive campaign by Russian officials to prevent terror attacks.

According to the RIA Novosti, Monday, January 27, 2003, officers of the Russian Interior Affairs Ministry have uncovered seven arms-caches over the past 24 hours.

One weapons-cache was found in a forest, nearby Samashki village. The cache contained 20 anti-tank mines, three shots for a grenade launcher and six F-1 grenades.

In the course of the operative and investigative measures, Interior Affairs Ministry officers discovered an arms-cache kept by terrorists in one of the abandoned houses in the village of Belorechye of the Gudermes district of Chechnya. 3 shots for an underbarrel grenade launcher, 125 7.62 caliber bullets and a mine were confiscated from the arms-cache. A self-made unit for shooting from an RPG grenade launcher was found at the same place.

The measures concerning the identification and arrest of those involved in the keeping of arms-caches are being taken at the present moment.

All in all, three pistols, an automatic rifle, 6 grenade launchers, a carbine, 5 hunting rifles, 1,600 bullets of various caliber for automatic weapons, 19 grenades, 34 shots for a grenade launcher, 38 artillery shells, 17 mines, and 3 fuses were confiscated over the last two days in Chechnya, the RIA Novosti reported.

During one anti-terror operation last July, Russian officers seized a large terrorist arsenal, that contained "several portable anti-missile systems, many anti-tank grenade-launchers, F-1 grenades, antipersonnel mines, plastic explosives, mine detonators and modern satellite communication systems."

Recently, French officials provided Russia information on terrorists plots on Russian interests after arresting men responsible for the murder of 21 in a Tunisian synagogue bombing. The arrests resulted in the discovery of detailed chemicals list and prices, methods and materials on how to forge documents, and videotapes of extreme tactic fighting in Chechnya.