SCO countries ready to support Russia in fighting terrorism

Russia’s Federal Security Service expressed its gratitude to the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation which stated that they are ready to help in the fight against terrorism in Russia.

Russia’s partners in the SCO’s Regional Anti-terrorist Structure conveyed its willingness to find those responsible for last week’s deadly terrorist attacks in Moscow and Kizlyar and also to help Russia in its preparations for the Victory Parade celebrations in Moscow in May.

“Representatives of the SCO, which includes six states (Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) offered their help in counteracting against terrorism,” said the First Deputy Director of the FSB Sergey Smirnov after the 16th session of the SCO Council in Tashkent.

The Council “strongly criticized the terror acts that took place in March 2010 in Russia which led to multiple casualties and [emphasized] the necessity to further consolidate the efforts of the SCO states in the fight against terrorism,” according to the session’s final document.

There are different forms of help, according to Sergey Smirnov, from information to usage of technical equipment and databases, including those on terrorists and terrorist organizations.

“All this can be used, particularly for searching for people linked to the preparation of terrorist acts, including those in Russia recently,” Smirnov stated. The Regional Anti-Terrorist structure of the SCO was created for the coordination of efforts on prevention of outbursts of terrorism, extremism and separatism, Smirnov added.

Using suicide bombers is one of the most dangerous forms of terrorist acts, the FSB deputy director stressed. The investigation is underway, and some “allegedly linked to the terror acts have been detained.” All necessary forces and resources of the FSB are being used in the investigation, Smirnov emphasized. “It is very important for us, both to identify those responsible for the terrorist acts and to set about measures necessary to prevent future terrorist acts,” he added.