Russia beefs up controls at North Caucasus border

Russian authorities have adopted a series of new measures to beef up security along borders that may be used by terrorists to infiltrate the country.

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday that the new measures were aimed at thwarting threats by elements belonging to international terrorist organizations that could penetrate into Russia mainly from borders of the North Caucasus region.

“In order to avoid triggering terrorist activity in the North Caucasus and its spread to other regions of the Russian Federation it is necessary to resolutely quash any attempts by members of international terror organizations at infiltrating Russian territory,” said Patrushev in a meeting of the Russian security body in the city of Cherkessk in southwestern Russia.

The official said a cornerstone of the new security strategy would be to tighten control over the border with the flow of migration. He said the measures came after President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Russian Security Council on April 6 to study the fundamentals of Russia’s state policy and measures to implement it.

Patrushev said the new security measures would not be limited to North Caucasus border and would apply to all areas where terrorists could penetrate into Russia.

Russia has suffered a series of high-profile terrorist attacks on its soil, especially since it began a military operation in Syria, upon a request by Damascus, in September 2015 to help the Syrian government fight against terror.

The Kremlin has repeatedly defended the military presence in Syria as a bid to prevent the return of thousands of nationals who have been fighting along the ranks of terrorist groups, including the Daesh Takfiri terrorists, in Syria since a war erupted in the Arab country in early 2011.

Most of the attacks targeting Russia have been carried out by Daesh terrorists from the former Soviet Union countries, especially those in the Central Asia and North Caucasus.

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