More than 30 residents of North Ossetia are active in the ranks of the terrorist group "Islamic state" (ISIS, banned in the Russian Federation). This was reported by the head of the Republic Vyacheslav Bitarov during a videoconference with Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.
"There is still a complex criminal situation in the Republic today, in particular, related to the participation of residents of the Republic in gangs, including as part of ISIS gangs abroad. More than 30 people [have been registered] to date, < ... > who participate in such gangs, " Bitarov said.
According to him, it is mainly about residents of rural localities, where "the issue of employment remains a problem". In general, as Bitarov noted, the high unemployment rate is the main factor in the complex criminal situation in North Ossetia.
The head of the region said that young people were involved in gang formations both through social networks and directly. "Of course, the security services and law enforcement agencies are working hard to identify and stop such groups within the Republic, but without solving social issues, of course, they will not catch all of them and put them in jail," Bitarov said.
He expressed gratitude to Medvedev and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their attention to the problems of the Republic, in particular for the adoption of a program for the socio - economic development of the region, which includes the construction of roads, kindergartens, schools, and so on. According to Bitarov, "this is part of the severity of the problem," because the construction of these facilities involves young people, but such construction is coming to an end, so "it is necessary to solve the issues of employment of the population."
Medvedev, in turn, said that the course to fight terrorism in Russia was not subject to revision.
"The fight against terrorism will continue, this is the course of the state, which is not subject to any revision," he said, adding that due to the pandemic in North Ossetia, the number of unemployed has increased, "and this somehow affects the criminal background, the level of crime in the Republic."
"We will summarize this data and prepare it for the meeting," the Deputy head of the Russian Security Council added. He explained that this was about a meeting on the criminal situation in the regions during the coronavirus pandemic, which he planned to hold on July 30.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS