Federal Security Service calls for broader international anti-ISIS coalition

The first deputy director of Russia’s Federal Security Service has told reporters that the agency calls for more states to join the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS).

“We must attract as many countries as possible [to the operation against IS] we must arrange a political dialogue. We have never shunned this, but there are some nations right now that try to evade such cooperation,” General Sergey Smirnov told reporters on Friday.

“The cooperation exists but its level is insufficient, especially when it concerns the United States,” he added.

READ MORE: Islamic State threat to Russia is real – FSB

Smirnov also noted that the Russian authorities were very concerned about the sharp increase in the number of refugees fleeing the Middle East to Europe because of the terror waged by IS. He said they understand that the migrant crisis poses a potential threat to the Russian Federation.

“The concern exists. So far we remain aside from this problem but we foresee that it will become more acute.”

In April this year, Smirnov told an anti-terror conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO that the threat to Russia from the Islamic State group was real because quite a lot of citizens from SCO nations were taking part in its activities.

In December, the Russian government recognized IS as a terrorist organization, outlawing membership or any support for it under threat of criminal prosecution. In addition, two major Russian Muslim groups issued fatwas against IS, announcing that all of its members were enemies of Islam and calling for their punishment as criminals.

READ MORE: Russian Muslims denounce ISIS as ‘enemies of Islam’