MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Steve Gutterman, Reuters – “Russian security forces in a restive North Caucasus province on Sunday killed three militants suspected of planning attacks on church services during the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday, authorities said.

Security forces tried to stop a van in the Kabardino-Balkaria province on Sunday but its occupants opened fire and were killed in the ensuing battle, during which the vehicle caught fire, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement.

It said that explosives, guns and ammunition were found in the van and that the men who were killed had been planning attacks on churches during services marking Russian Orthodox Christmas, which is on Monday.

The statement gave no evidence to support that suspicion and the account could not be verified.

Deadly exchanges of gunfire between police and suspected militants at road checkpoints are common in Russia’s North Caucasus, a string of provinces hit by an Islamist insurgency rooted in two separatist wars in Chechnya.

Kabardino-Balkaria, west of Chechnya, is mostly Muslim but has a sizable Christian minority.” Read more.

Flashback: Russia: Prominent Muslim Lawyer Promises To ‘Cover Russia In Blood’ and Turn Moscow Into ‘A Second Dead Sea’ If Sharia Law Is Not Implemented – “Police in the Russian capital said on Wednesday they will examine a video in which a prominent Muslim lawyer pledges to ‘cover Russia in blood’ if the authorities refuse to establish courts to implement Islamic law. ‘May be you are foreigners here, and this is our home. We will set our rules, whether you want this or not … Any attempts to stop this will result in blood. We will turn the city (Moscow) into a second dead sea,’ he was quoted as saying.” Read more.

Flashback: Russia: Convert To Islam Calls For Killing Of All Non-Muslims To Unite The Muslim World Under A ‘Global Islamic Caliphate’ – “The Moscow City Court has sentenced radical Islamist Tatyana Tarasova to 1.5 years of probation for posting an article promoting terrorism on a Muslim advocacy website that she administered… Tarasova converted to Islam and began supporting radical Islamic views and the idea of committing terrorist acts against non-Muslims in an effort to unite the Muslim world under a ‘global Islamic caliphate.’” Read more.