Russian anti-terror forces thwart terror attack in Moscow

A group of people allegedly preparing to carry out a terrorist attack in the Russian capital of Moscow have been arrested during counter-terrorism raids.

The perpetrators were arrested in an apartment in central Moscow, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a press release.

An explosive device equivalent to about five kilograms of TNT was seized from the suspects, the source said.

But unlike the suicide bombings in Turkey, the alleged attackers in Moscow had planned to set off their explosives with a mobile phone-based detonator, the source said, Interfax reported. No details were given about the number or identify of the suspects.

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee confirmed they thwarted a terror attack.

The developments come as senior authorities in Russian Federation say hundreds of Chechens have left for Syria to join Takfiri Daesh militants since the beginning of the conflict in the Arab country in 2011.

The attack was believed to be carried out by two women from the Muslim separatist Caucasus Emirate group.