Police in Russia detained the alleged head of a disbanded Islamist group that had planned a series of attacks in Moscow. Yulay Davlatbayev was arrested in MoscowÂ’s Mytishchinsky district by special forces from the Federal Security Service, which released photographs of his arrest early on Thursday. Police said they found explosives in the man's apartment in the Orekhovo-Zuyevo area of Moscow, and that Davlatbayev had until now eluded capture by taking a job as a taxi driver in Moscow.
Officials said Davlatbayev ran a cell for the Islamic Party of Turkestan, a group Russian police say they decimated in a shootout last month. They said the group had been planning attacks in Moscow, including on May 9 when Russia celebrates the Nazi defeat.
The Anti-Terrorism Committee said DavlatbayevÂ’s group had been to the Afghan-Pakistan border to train in explosives and had fought NATO forces in Afghanistan.
FSB Chief Alexander Bortnikov has warned that the Islamic Group of Turkestan is just as dangerous as al Qaeda, but some security analysts say its aims and reach are not well understood. Security analysts say the group may have ties with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.