Russia says it foiled terrorist attacks planned for 2014 Olympics
This image taken from video and released Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 by The Kavkaz Center, a website affiliated with Chechen rebels, shows insurgent leader Doku Umarov speaking in a video in which he claims responsibility for deadly suicide bombing at Russia's largest airport. It was not clear when or where the video was recorded. Russia's secret service said Thursday, May 10, 2012, that it had foiled terror attack plans in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. The FSB said it suspects the attacks were being masterminded by Doku Umarov. The FSB also said that it suspects that Umarov has close links to the secret service in Georgia. (AP Photo/The Kavkaz Center)
FIlE - This Sept. 28, 2010 file hoto shows an air defense missile system near the Grand Ice Palace, which is under construction in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. Russia's secret service says it has foiled terror attack plans in Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee said Thursday, May 10, 2012, the Russian secret service FSB has discovered caches of ammunition with portable surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, flame throwers as well as grenades, rifles and explosives. The ammunition was found in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, a region that has strong links with Russia. (AP Photo/Igor Yakunin, File)
FIlE - This Dec. 24, 2011 file photo shows hotels under construction at Rosa Khutor ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana near Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. Russia's secret service says it has foiled terror attack plans in Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee said Thursday, May 10, 2012, the Russian secret service FSB has discovered caches of ammunition with portable surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, flame throwers as well as grenades, rifles and explosives. The ammunition was found in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, a region that has strong links with Russia. (AP Photo/Igor Yakuninm File)
FIlE - This Dec. 16, 2011 file photo, shows the Olympic skating center under construction in the Olympic park in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. Russia's secret service says it has foiled terror attack plans in Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee said Thursday, May 10, 2012, the Russian secret service FSB has discovered caches of ammunition with portable surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, flame throwers as well as grenades, rifles and explosives. The ammunition was found in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, a region that has strong links with Russia. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
In this photo taken on Thursday, May 19, 2011, an old Soviet style statue of a reindeer breeder, left, is seen over the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia. Russia's secret service said Thursday, May 10, 2012, that it had foiled terror attack plans in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. The FSB said it suspects the attacks were being masterminded by Doku Umarov. The FSB also said that it suspects that Umarov has close links to the secret service in Georgia. .(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)
MOSCOW — Russia’s secret service said Thursday it had foiled terror attack plans in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Games.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said the secret service agency FSB discovered ten caches of ammunition that included portable surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, flame throwers, grenades, rifles and explosives.
The ammunition was found on May 4 and May 5 in Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia, a region that has declared independence and has strong links with Russia.
The FSB said it suspects the attacks were being masterminded by Doku Umarov, a Chechen rebel leader, whom it claims has close ties to Georgia’s secret service. Umarov had claimed responsibility for the 2011 deadly bombing in a Moscow airport that killed 35 people.
Officials in Georgia were not immediately available to comment. Georgia and Russia, both former Soviet republics, had a brief but intense war in 2008 and are still very distrustful of each other.
Sochi’s selection as the host of the 2014 Winter Games had initially sparked fears of possible terrorist activity at Olympic sites.
Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region is plagued with near-daily violence linked to an Islamist insurgency that spread from the province of Chechnya to neighboring areas in the late 1990s. Although Sochi has been spared from terrorist attacks so far, it is still located in the same region as the North Caucasus republics.