U.S. Embassy in Russia Raises Alarm: ‘Imminent’ Terror Attack Threat from Extremists

After learning that extremists planned an attack, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow sent out a security alert to warn Americans in Russia not to attend large gatherings in Russia, such as concerts, in the next 48 hours.

Six other nations have issued similar warnings. The alert was issued hours after the Russian Federal Security Service announced that they foiled an Islamic State terrorist attack on a Jewish Synagogue.

The two threats may not be connected.

The FSB stated that “active search measures established they were militants from an international terrorist group preparing to attack a congregation of a Synagogue using firearms.”

The report continues, “During an attempt to arrest them, terrorists resisted the Russian FSB personnel and were neutralized as a consequence of a return fire.”

A State Department spokesperson said to Newsweek there was “no greater priority than the safety of U.S. Citizens overseas.” However, the spokesperson refused to confirm whether the foiled attack on the synagogue and the security alert had any connection.

Reuters:

The FSB reported that an Islamic State cell operated in Russia’s Kaluga Region as part of ISIS-Khorasan, the Afghan arm of ISIS. ISIS-Khorasan seeks to establish a caliphate throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

The group appeared for the first time in eastern Afghanistan at the end of 2014 and quickly gained a reputation as a brutal bunch.

The FSB stated that the cell was “preparing to use firearms to attack congregants at a synagogue”.

The report said that when the Russian special forces engaged in combat, they “neutralized” the militants by returning fire.

Russia, always paranoid about the U.S., Great Britain, and ISIS, has accused them of a “false-flag” terrorist attack.

Newsweek:

The warning this week prompted some of Putin’s allies to claim that the U.S., U.K., and other entities were planning terror attacks against Russia.

The post reads: “The USA, Britain, and other countries have stopped hiding their involvement in the terrorist attacks that took place in Russia.”

Margarita Simonyan is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-run news outlet RT. She reportedly said that if the Kremlin does not receive “specific information”, the U.S. or U.K. will be deemed guilty of “complicity”.

The 48-hour warning period and their specificity are what make these warnings so unusual and unsettling. This kind of intelligence is not shared by the embassy with citizens very often unless there’s a real and imminent threat.

It’s possible that the threat is not coming from ISIS. If this is the case, Russia faces a much bigger problem. In the Russian Federation, there are active and operational cells of at least two deadly terrorist groups.

Publicizing the threat may not be enough to stop it.