Kazakhstan investigates Russian security forces' killing of Kazakh citizens as they supposedly prepared terrorist attack in Moscow

Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (NSC) has launched a pre-trial investigation following reports that Russian law enforcement officers killed two Kazakh citizens during a supposed attempt to organise a terrorist attack in Russia.

Source: Kazakhstan's NSC; Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza, citing Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB); Telegram-based news outlet Astra

Quote from NSC: "The fact that these individuals had Kazakh citizenship and had travelled to Russia has been confirmed. The NSC has launched a pre-trial investigation into this incident. It is being carried out in close contact with Russia's FSB within the framework of existing cooperation channels."

Details: The FSB announced on 7 March that it had prevented a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Moscow, which was supposedly being prepared by terrorists from Khorasan Province, the ISIS cell in Afghanistan.

"During the detention, the terrorists put up armed resistance to the FSB officers and were finally killed by return fire," the Russian secret service said.

The FSB claimed that firearms, ammunition and components for making an improvised explosive device had been found at the homes of the killed suspects. The FSB office in Kaluga Oblast opened a criminal case on charges of preparing for a terrorist attack (Article 30.1, Article 205.2. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The Telegram-based news outlet Astra was one of the first to report that the killed were Kazakh citizens. Its sources said that a skirmish between the FSB officers and suspected terrorists took place in the early morning hours of 7 March in the village of Koryakovo, Kaluga Oblast. Two suspects, Sabit Ashiraliyev, 35, and Dzhanibek Taskulaev, 32, who arrived in Russia on 28 February, were killed in the shootout.

Background:

• The US Embassy in Russia warned that extremists have "imminent plans" to attack Moscow.
• The Dutch Embassy in Moscow also urged the Dutch citizens to be vigilant due to possible terrorist attacks this weekend.
• Police in Moscow have been put on high alert.

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