Russia detains 7 foreigners for plotting attacks in St. Petersburg

Russia's intelligence service detained seven individuals of Central Asian origin on suspicion of plotting terrorist on the rail transport system and crowded places in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg, the Federal Security Service said.

"The identity of the detainees is not disclosed in the interests of the investigation," it said in a brief statement providing no other details.

An investigation is currently underway and the FSB did not identify the detainees.

On July 27, First Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman said, 12 terrorist attacks were prevented in Russia within six month at the plotting and attempting stages.

On April 3, several Central Asian nationals launched a bomb attack in St. Petersburg's metro system, killing 14 people and injuring more than 50 others.

Russian law enforcement services foiled 12 terrorist attacks in the first half of 2017, according to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.

Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolay Patrushev has described the Islamic State or ISIS (terror group outlawed in Russia), which has changed its strategy after a series of defeats in Syria, as the biggest source of threat to national security.

"The biggest threat to national security emanates from a new generation of terrorists uniting under the banner of ISIL," he said on Friday at a meeting of high representatives of the BRICS member-countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in charge of security issues underway in Beijing.