Russian authorities have ordered security forces on high alert after receiving information from foreign officials pointing to the threat of a terrorist attack on public transportation, officials said Tuesday. Authorities were checking information about the potential threat, they said.
A federal anti-terrorism headquarters received information "from foreign partners ... about the possibility a subversive terrorist act could be committed on ground transport and in the metro," according to a statement confirmed by a Federal Security Service official who said he was not authorized to give his name.
Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev, who also heads the anti-terror center, ordered anti-terror forces on high alert and called for stepped-up measures to prevent any attack, the statement said. It offered no details on the nature of the threat or the measures to be taken.
It was unclear what country the information about the potential threat came from; Russia cooperates against terrorism with countries around the world, including the United States.
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