PYATIGORSK, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The acting chief of Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan urged special services to carefully check the background of residents applying for international passports, saying that some of them travel abroad to join militant groups.
Ramazan Abdulatipov said that an unknown number of Dagestan residents have left for Syria, possibly to join armed opposition groups. According to the republic’s Federal Security Service department, about 200 residents of Dagestan are staying in Syria, and some of them are fighting against pro-presidential forces.
“No international passports [should be issued] without a careful study of a person’s background,” Abdulatipov said. “Every person has the right [to obtain a passport for international travel], no doubts about that, but only after an official in charge gathers accurate information from regional and municipal authorities.”
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that up to 600 militants from Russia and Europe are fighting together with Syrian rebels against the government there.
Federal Security Service (FSB) head Alexander Bortnikov said in May that about 200 Russians are playing an active role in fighting in Syria.
A recent study by experts at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy together with Flashpoint Global Partners, a terrorism research group, found that at least 17 fighters of Russian origin had been killed in Syria between July 2012 and May this year, including 10 from the Muslim-populated North Caucasus regions.
