Chechen law enforcers count 15 persons eager to join IS* militants

In 2018, none of residents of Chechnya joined the Syrian militants, although 15 people tried to do it, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported, stating the success of their actions to prevent extremism.

According to the "Caucasian Knot", in the first six months of 2018, law enforcers, as the MIA reported, 10 persons were stopped from leaving Chechnya for the Middle East. During the same period of 2017, 50 residents of Chechnya were detained during the same attempts, law enforcers reported.

In 2018, in Chechnya, "for the first time in several years," not a single case was registered of young people's departure for Syria with the aim to take part in the warfare on the side of terrorist organizations; during the year, law enforcers stopped 15 such attempts, the spokesman of the Chechen MIA told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"According to the available data, in 2017, several persons went there," he explained, without specifying how many people left for the Middle East in 2017.

According to his version, such results in 2018 "were achieved thanks to the ongoing explanation-prophylactic work with young people, as well as the ongoing operative activities."

Currently, overall, 746 residents of Chechnya are still wanted on suspicion of involvement in the Syrian militants, "both males and females," the source has added.

* "Islamic State" (IS, earlier, the ISIL) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 28, 2019 at 03:16 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.