Airstrikes in Syria prove Russia's anti-terror ability: Putin

Airstrikes conducted by Russian air force in Syria proved the country is capable of and ready for anti-terror missions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

"The result of the operations confirms that Russia is ready to accurately and effectively respond to terrorist or any other threats to our country," Putin told senior military officials who just received command ranks at a ceremony in the Kremlin.

Assessing the current security situation and threats faced by Russia, Putin warned that terrorists plan to expand and further destabilize the entire Middle East region.

After creating a springboard in Syria, terrorists "recruited and continue to recruit into their ranks militants from many states, including Russia and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States," Putin was quoted as saying in an online Kremlin transcript.

Reiterating that Moscow's air raids in Syria were preventive measures, the president praised Russian armed forces for "being a reliable guarantor of the country's sovereignty" and "playing a key role in maintaining global and regional security."

Noting that the anti-terrorism fight inside Russia is becoming more urgent amid the unstable situation in the world, Putin urged his countrymen to "act further in the energetic and efficient way."

It was necessary for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) to step up efforts and uncover ties between Russian gunmen and international terrorist groups and their backers, he said.

He also introduced the FSB's domestic achievements this year, with 112 gunmen including 26 leaders killed, over 560 members of armed gangs detained and 20 terrorism-related crimes prevented.

Still, Putin expressed concerns about drug trafficking, public security monitoring and crimes related to extremism, ethnic and religious intolerance and enmity.

He called on government departments and agencies to provide timely and impartial analyses and forecasts of international and domestic security issues.

Earlier in the day, Russian Interior Ministry said a group of the international terrorist group Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party) was detained during a large-scale special operation in the Moscow region.

The extremist group, believed to have been established in the Palestine territories in 1953, calls for replacing national governments with a universal caliphate. It has been banned in several Central Asian countries. Russia's Supreme Court listed it as an extremist group in 2003.

The National Anti-terrorist Committee said on Oct. 12 a terror attack was foiled in Moscow with a group of suspects detained.

With the Islamic State and other terror groups claiming to revenge on Russia and the U.S. for airstrikes in Syria, the Russian government has recently increased domestic anti-terror operations especially in the Moscow region. Enditem