Dramatic moment Russian FSB detains three suspected terrorists in major operation in Dagestan ‘linked to Moscow concert massacre’

The Russian FSB today detained three suspected terrorists in a major operation in southern region Dagestan.

Initial unconfirmed reports citing law enforcement linked the suspects to shooting and fire at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow, in which at least 143 died.

The detained men were ‘planning a number of terrorist offences’ amid fears of more attacks, said Russian officials.

Smoke was seen pouring from a flat in Kaspiysk city before suspects were taken into custody.

A major anti-terrorism operation was underway here and in residential areas of the regional capital Makhachkala.

Automatic weapons, ammunition and ‘ready-to-use’ improvised explosive devices were found, according to Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee.

The three detained were from a central Asian state and were ‘directly related’ to the terrorists who staged the Moscow attack, according to Telegram channel Before Everyone.

The four main suspects in Moscow are all from Tajikistan, and their strike was the work of an ISIS-affiliate, according to Western sources.

There were no reported casualties during today’s FSB storming.

Further operations in Dagestan were underway, according to some reports.

Russia is on high alert for more atrocities after the Crocus City Hall bloodbath on March 22.

‘Security agencies detained three bandits who were planning a number of terrorist offences,’ said the committee.

‘During the inspection of the places where the criminals were detained, automatic weapons, ammunition and an improvised explosive device ready for use were found.’

Earlier a counterterrorism regime had been declared in Makhachkala and Kaspiysk, giving law enforcement the right to stage searches, check cars, and block internet communications.

‘The necessary operational search activities and investigative actions continue,’ said the committee.

FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov vowed to hunt down Russians fighting against Vladimir Putin for volunteer paramilitary groups based in Ukraine.

These partisans gained a territorial foothold by capturing land in Russia’s Belgorod region.

Putin has branded them ‘traitors’ and ordered Bortnikov to hunt and kill them – to ‘punish them without a statute of limitations, wherever they are’.

The FSB chief said today: ‘We know by name the organisers of…actions on our territory.

‘We will do everything necessary to find and punish these scoundrels.’

The terror threat in the heart of Europe has reached new heights following the Moscow attack, officials have warned, with additional security measures being taken as England football fans prepare to fly to Germany for Euro 2024 this summer.

Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an offshoot of ISIS, last week claimed responsibility for the deadly assault on the Crocus City Hall entertainment complex in Russia’s capital, which saw nearly 140 slaughtered and hundreds more injured.

In the wake of the attack, Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has issued a stark warning about the threat posed to her country, saying it has raised ‘dangers to a new level’.

It comes ahead of the UEFA European Football Championship, which is kicking off in just 75 days, with British police set to be deployed to Germany to help keep fans safe.

Germany will be on high alert for the major international event, Ms Faeser said this week, with temporary border controls to be introduced ‘to prevent possible perpetrators of violence from entering the country.’