Recent blasts in the North Caucasus were organized by global terrorist networks partially based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Security Council head Nikolai Patrushev said Wednesday, Interfax reported.
He did not name the terrorist groups but said representatives of foreign law enforcement agencies supported his belief that the threat did not originate from Russia. Patrushev said he discussed anti-terrorism cooperation with colleagues from 43 countries at an international forum in Sochi on Tuesday. (Related story, Page 4)
Recent blasts in Pyatigorsk and Vladikavkaz killed 19 people and injured more than 200. In Stavropol, local residents prevented an attack last week by alerting police about a car with explosives that they spotted abandoned in the street.
(MT)
