MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - A series of bombings were prevented via security operations on Friday and Saturday in Dagestan, a republic in Russia's North Caucasus region, according to Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Center (NAC).
"The timely destruction of a 'death lab' and neutralization of 13 IEDs [improvised explosive devices] with total power equivalent to that of 90 kilograms of TNT has made it possible to avert a series of terrorist acts in the Republic of Dagestan and avoid numerous human fatalities," the NAC said in a statement.
On Friday a member of the so-called "Kizlyar saboteur and terrorist group" was detained in Shaumyan village, Kizlyar district, who had been involved in making explosive devices that were used in bombing railroad facilities, the statement said.
"Measures were taken as a result of which a cache was found containing a 200-liter plastic barrel, three IEDs - 15-liter buckets filled with an explosive mixture and shrapnel - and a mine detector. It has been confirmed procedurally that all three improvised explosive devices were ready for combat use," the NAC said, adding that, in total, the bombs were as powerful as more than 25 kilograms of TNT.
On Saturday, an IED-making lab was found in a forest outside the same village. "The dugout that housed the laboratory consisted of three units - a workshop/storage facility, a kitchen/bedroom, and a toilet," the statement said.
The lab concealed "eight IEDs that were 1-meter-log metal pipes with diameters of 15 to 30 centimeters filled with an explosive mixture, one IED that was a 10-liter metal bucket, and one IED that was a natural gas tank."
"Judging by the technical characteristics of the explosive devices, which were ready to be planted, they were intended for [bombings] on railroads and for use in places of mass congestions of people," the NAC said. The bombs had total power equivalent to that of more than 60 kilograms of TNT.
"Moreover, eight cell phones, which were used as primers, a large amount of IED components, camouflage clothes and food reserves were found in the laboratory," the statement said.
Federal Security Service (FSB) experts said bombs of this kind had repeatedly been used in railroad attacks.
"After necessary investigations the laboratory was destroyed by explosion," the statement said.