MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Over 300 crimes of a terrorist nature were prevented in the North Caucasus by Russian special services and law enforcement agencies in 2012-2016, Russian Security Council Assistant Secretary Alexei Pavlov said Thursday.
"The security and law enforcement agencies prevented more than 300 crimes of a terrorist nature in time," Pavlov told journalists in an interview timed to the 25th anniversary of the Russian Security Council, due in June.
"More than 1,200 gunmen, including 201 gang leaders, were killed in the course of special events and counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus in the period from 2012 to 2016. More than 3,600 gang members were detained, 304 militants and their accomplices were persuaded to stop their illegal activities," he said.
"Repeated facts of the use of poisonous substances and highly toxic chemicals by international terrorist groups testify to the growing threat of the use of chemical and toxic substances for terrorist purposes on Russian territory," Pavlov said.
Speaking ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Security Council's establishment in June, he noted that the threat raises the need for proactive measures to prevent terrorists from accessing nuclear, radioactive, chemical and biological materials.
Alexei Pavlov also stated that the number of terrorist-nature crimes in Russia in the last five years has decreased tenfold.
"In recent years, we have managed to achieve a steady trend toward a decline in terrorist activity on the territory of the Russian Federation," Pavlov told journalists in an interview timed to the 25th anniversary of the Russian Security Council, due in June.
"As a result of the implementation of a set of preventive, manhunt and operative measures, the number of crimes of terrorist nature in five years decreased tenfold," he said.
