Five men have been detained in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, where a counter terrorism operation is under way, an unidentified law enforcement official said Wednesday.
"Manhunt activities are over at five sites where militants or their accomplices could have hidden, according to available information. Three people have been detained," the official said.
Two more men were detained later, another official said.
A counter terrorism operation has been under way since early morning in the Ingush town of Magas, and in the villages of Yandare and Ekazhevo due to operative reports that a number of terrorist attacks were being planned during Eid al-Adha celebrations.
Attacks on security forces, police and civilians occur regularly in the North Caucasus, generated by ethnic, religious and political rivalries, as well as poverty and corruption. The violence is also fed by an Islamist insurgency, which has been especially resilient in Dagestan and fueled a series of bloody post-Soviet separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.
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