Moscow 'Terror Attack Foiled After Shootout'

Russian security services claim to have foiled a planned terrorist attack in Moscow after a shootout that killed two alleged militants.

"Our forceful actions prevented an attempted act of terror in the capital," the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) said in a statement.

Two suspects were killed and a third arrested during the raid on a house in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, 85km east of the capital, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.

One special forces officer sustained minor injuries during the operation.

Counter-terrorism officers gave no details about the alleged plot, but claimed the group had been trained in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

The NAC said: "The Federal Security Service of Russia verified real-time data on the preparation of a terrorist act in Moscow by a group of three militants, located in one of the houses in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo.

"These criminals, who are citizens of the Russian Federation, came from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, where they received training and preparation to commit a terrorist act."

Officials said the militants were surrounded in a house in the small town and ordered to surrender, but opened fire on security forces instead.

"In the exchange of fire two of them were killed and one detained. A special forces officer was slightly wounded," the NAC statement said.

Officials did not say when the raid had taken place, and no further information was given as to an intended target or the level of preparedness of any plot.

The AFP news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been personally informed about the foiled attack.

It is not unusual for Russian security forces to announce they have thwarted terrorist attacks, although these tend to be concentrated in the restive Caucasus region of southern Russia.

The last major terrorist attack in Moscow was a suicide bombing at Domodedovo international airport in January 2011, in which 37 people died.