Chechen law enforcers announce the number of persons willing to join militants in Syria

In January-June this year, Chechen law enforcers prevented the departure of 10 people to Syria, while in the first six months of 2017, 50 residents of Chechnya were detained for trying to join terrorists.

According to a source from the republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), residents of Chechnya tried to join various terrorist groupings in Syria and Iraq. Also five cases of recruiting residents of Chechnya into militants' ranks were revealed.

The MIA believes that the number of young people intending to join militants in Syria is declining thanks to intensified prophylactic measures.

"The bulk of those who are in Syria or Iraq now went there in 2013-2015. Currently, such facts are quite rare," policemen have explained.

Also, the MIA has told about the difficulties of working with those who leave for Syria.

"Relatives usually fear to announce such facts; and young people themselves fail to inform their relatives about their plans. Therefore, it is rather difficult to learn about their departure to the Middle East," said the source.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 26, 2018 at 02:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.