Analysts predict activation of IS recruiters in Northern Caucasus

The claim of the "Islamic State" (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court) concerning an attack on law enforcers in Chechnya is intended to make it easier for militants to recruit new supporters after defeats in Syria and Iraq, analysts suggest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April and May, in Chechnya, law enforcers detained nine suspected militants. According to sources, the suspects were plotting attacks on law enforcers. A special operation for the detention of the suspects was preceded by the IS claim on the attack on the law enforcers in the Urus-Martan District, and although the law enforcement bodies called it disinformation, the detentions might have been connected with it, suggest the scientists engaged in the studies of the Caucasus.

After the actual defeat in Syria, the IS tries to develop its activity in other regions of the world, including in the Caucasus, believes Mikhail Roschin, a scientist engaged in the studies of the Caucasus. However, according to him, in Chechnya, the law enforcement bodies are now vigilant and control the situation.

Mikhail Roschin has noted that live IS militants still stay in Syria, but in fact, they have virtually no opportunity to return to Russia without being noticed. Their only possibility is to recruit local residents.

To attract attention to its activities, the terrorist organization actively makes fakes, i.e. news about attacks that never took place, notes Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, Director at the Conflict Analysis and Prevention Centre.

Having lost the territory in Syria, the IS uses all its efforts to demonstrate the very fact of its existence, the human rights defender explains.