DUSHANBE, June 9, 2013, Asia-Plus – Russian media sources report Russian police rounded up 300 people at a Muslim prayer room in Moscow on June 7.
Russian news agencies quoted the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that Friday’s raid, the third targeting Muslim places of worship in Moscow or St Petersburg this year, led to the detention of 300 people including 170 foreigners. FSB also noted that Islamist literature had been confiscated during the raid to check for extremist content. The FSB did not say why the people had been detained.
Meanwhile, Reuters report that raid came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a crackdown on radical Islamists ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Putin has put security forces on high alert to safeguard the Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which lies near to mainly Muslim southern provinces where Russia is battling an Islamist insurgency that has targeted Moscow.
“We must fight back hard against extremists who, under the banners of radicalism, nationalism and separatism, are trying to split our society,” Putin said.
Putin reportedly told a meeting of security force officials earlier on June 7 that “the policy in the fight against corruption, crime and the insurgency has to be carried out harshly and consistently.” He said, “The situation in the North Caucasus should be kept under particular control.”
Fears of Islamist militants in Moscow have reportedly risen since police killed two men and detained another two who allegedly belonged to an outlawed Islamist group that was plotting an attack during a major holiday earlier this year.
According to Reuters, human rights activists say Russia’s Islamist insurgency is fuelled by a combination of religion, official corruption and strong arm tactics against suspected militants by local leaders.
