Russia warns int'l community of expanding terrorist recruitment

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev warned on Tuesday that the international community is facing with the same problem of expanding terrorist recruitment.

Information analysis showed that new hotbeds of terrorism are springing up, which could lead to expanded recruitment of international terrorist organizations, Patrushev told reporters.

The warning came as two Russian students recently were detained with different charges on terrorism.

Investigation showed that one of the detainees, Saida Khalikova, collected and donated money to an online charity foundation allegedly helping Muslim orphans, which turned out to be gathering financial support for the Islamic State (IS).

Although the girl claimed she knew nothing about the real objectives of the foundation, she remained in custody pending trial and has been charged with promoting terrorism.

Another student, Varvara Karaulova, was detained on Thursday by Turkish authorities while attempting to cross into Syria through the Turkish border city of Kilis.

While Turkey authorities are still investigating the case, Patrushev confirmed Tuesday that the girl, along with 12 more detained Russian nationals, was planning to join the IS.

"The recent case (of Karaulova) is not the only example of recruiting the youth by radical Islamists," Tass news agency quoted Patrushev as saying.

"The Islamic State, like other terrorist organizations, is actively recruiting Russian nationals, citizens of CIS ( Commonwealth of Independent States) members and other countries of the world, especially focusing on the youth and national minorities," he warned.

Patrushev called on security services and law enforcement agencies of countries to pool efforts to terminate the activities of terrorist recruiters and prevent citizens from leaving and joining terrorist organizations.

A UN report released in May found that the ranks of groups like al-Qaeda and IS may have increased by more than 70 percent over the last nine months, with around 25,000 fighters coming from around 100 different countries. Enditem