Russia Kills 20 Terrorist Leaders Linked to Daesh in 2015
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Russian security services eliminated over 40 terrorist leaders in the country in 2015, including 20 believed to have links to Daesh (also known as ISIL), the first deputy head of the National Anti-terrorism Committee said Friday.
"Security forces of the Russian Federation neutralized the activity of more than 40 terrorist leaders in 2015. Twenty of the 26 leaders of bandit groups linked to Daesh were eliminated," Evgeny Ilin told journalists.
According to Ilin, over 150 suspected militants were killed by the authorities in Russia last year.
Andrei Przhezdomskiy, an adviser to the Committee's chairman, said on Friday that the Russian security services had managed to break the trend of the growing number of Russian nationals heading to Syria to fight in the ranks of militant groups, Sputnik News reported.
Daesh, which occupies vast tracts of Iraq and Syria and is outlawed in many countries including Russia, has gained much notoriety for conducting suicide bombings and other attacks worldwide and recruiting young people via social media.