Russia detains 4 IS-linked suspects plotting attacks in Moscow

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday it had detained four terrorism suspects with connections to the Islamic State (IS) who are planning attacks in the region of Russia's capital.

"The FSB suppressed activities of a terrorist group plotting a series of terrorist attacks in places of mass gathering in Moscow, including transportation stations and large malls, by using suicide bombers and powerful explosive devices," it said in a statement.

Preliminary investigation showed that these attacks were prepared under the guidance of IS leaders and emissaries from Syria, the statement said.

The group consists of a Russian national and three Central Asians, namely a curator and IS emissary, an expert in explosive devices, and two suicide bombers, it said.

The FSB also discovered and rendered harmless a laboratory for production of improvised explosive devices.

Russia has foiled 12 terrorist attacks in the first half of the year, according to a recent report by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.