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MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian official says about 1,500 residents of Russia's North Caucasus are fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
Sergei Melikov, President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the North Caucasus, says at least five militants who came back after fighting in Syria were killed in security sweeps last year.
Melikov said Thursday the Islamic State group poses a "very serious threat" to the North Caucasus, Russian news agencies reported. He said efforts are needed to prevent young people from joining the ranks of militants.
Melikov's comment echoed Putin's speech to senior officials of the Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, in which he said one of its top priorities should be tracking Russian citizens who have left to fight alongside the Islamic State group.
"It's important to take additional measures to cut international links and resource base of the terrorists, block avenues for their entry and exit from Russia," Putin said Thursday.
Chechnya has become more stable under the watch of Kremlin-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov following two separatist wars, but its Islamist insurgency has engulfed other North Caucasus provinces.
Melikov singled out Dagestan, a province between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, as the most volatile spot, adding that Islamic State group recruiters are likely active in Dagestan's religious schools.
An online guide written by a man calling himself Mukhammad Abu Barud al-Dagestani has offered advice for those eager to join the Islamic State group. The guide, available on the Russian social network VKontakte, suggests that militants travel through Turkey to Syria and provides tips such as how to answer Russian officials' questions while crossing the border. It also suggests the newcomers sell their belongings and bring as much money as they can on their "final voyage."
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