Police Eliminate Two ISIL-Affiliated Terrorists in Russia's Ingushetia

Two terrorists, who had sworn allegiance to the notorious Islamic State (ISIL) militant group, were detected and eliminated in Russia’s North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, the national anti-terrorist committee said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — One of the eliminated terrorists, Beslan Mahauri, was once a confidant of Doku Umarov, a Chechen Islamist militant in Russia, the leader of the Imarat Kavkaz terrorist organization, who was killed in 2013. In August, Umarov's successor was killed in a special operation in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan.

"According to the national anti-terrorist committee operational data, the eliminated militants in June swore their allegiance to the international terrorist organization ISIL [Islamic State]," the committee said in a Saturday statement.

Islamic State is a jihadist militant group, which has seized large territories in Iraq and Syria. It is known for recruiting young people from all over the world via social media. Some 20,000 to 30,000 foreign fighters are fighting alongside extremists against government forces in Syria and Iraq, according to various estimates.

In August, Russian security forces killed eight ISIL-affiliated militants in Ingushetia. One of the dead was identified as the mastermind behind last December’s attack on a police station in the Chechen capital, Grozny.

In mid-October, an anti-terrorist operation regime was imposed in six settlements of Ingushetia.