Russian security services said Friday they had arrested three “nationals of a Central Asian country” who were planning a bomb attack in southern Russia, a week after the attack on a concert hall near Moscow which left at least 144 dead.
The FSB said in a statement cited by Russian news agencies that it had “put an end to the terrorist activities of three nationals of a Central Asian country who were planning to commit a terrorist act by detonating a device in a public place in the Stavropol region.
Russian television broadcast images showing several men being held on the ground by FSB agents between cars. According to the state news agency Ria Novosti, components for making a homemade explosive device and chemical substances were found at the suspects' home.
Twelve people arrested for Moscow attack
This announcement comes a week after the attack on Crocus City Hall in the suburbs of the Russian capital, which left at least 144 dead and 360 injured and was claimed by the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) although Russian authorities claim to see a Ukrainian track there.
Twelve people were arrested after the massacre, including the four suspected attackers, who are from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia where ISIS is active.
The FSB has regularly announced for years that it has foiled attacks in Russia and few details are generally known about these cases.