Russia Worries Terror Suspects Are Already in Sochi

Women suspected of being dispatched to Sochi to carry out terrorist attacks

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Authorities in Russia are reportedly facing an early terror scare ahead of the Olympic Games that begin in Sochi next month.

Citing unnamed U.S. and Russian sources, NBC News and ABC News reported Monday that security forces are searching for up to four so-called “black widows”—including at least one woman in or near the city—who are suspected of being sent there to carry out terrorist attacks.

The term “black widows” refers to female terrorists who seek to avenge the deaths of their husbands.

Wanted posters have gone up in Sochi for 22-year-old Ruzan Ibragimova, the widow of Islamist militant killed by security forces last year, NBC News and ABC News report. Ibragimova is described in the posters as having a four-inch scar on her cheek, a limp in her right leg and a left arm that does not bend at the elbow, NBC reports.

Security is already high in Sochi, where more than 30,000 security personnel have effectively locked down the city. On Sunday, two members of an Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for a pair of deadly bombings last month in the city of Volgograd, and threatened to strike the upcoming Olympics.

[NBC News]