Kremlin's presidential envoy Warns IS 'Recruiting North Caucasus Students'.

Kremlin's presidential envoy Warns IS 'Recruiting North Caucasus Students'.(rferl).

The Islamic State (IS) militant group is recruiting students at state universities in the North Caucasus, the Kremlin's presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District has claimed.

Sergei Melnikov urged university rectors and authorities to "keep an eye on" young people studying at their institutions.

"We have obtained information about the activities of recruiters for the Islamic State terrorist organization in our universities. Their representatives are recruiting students of North Caucasus state universities," Melnikov told a March 21 council meeting of the heads of the seven federal subjects that comprise the North Caucasus Federal District: Daghestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol Krai, and North Ossetia-Alania.

Melnikov called on universities in the North Caucasus to take more notice of students' "extracurricular activities."

Melnikov did not specify which universities were affected, however, according to local news reports.

While there has been a handful of reports about Russian nationals attending university or college before being radicalized, and one report of a Kazakh national allegedly associated with IS and who attempted to recruit students at a Russian university, there have been no reports of the systematic targeting by IS recruiters at further education institutions in the North Caucasus.

Russian security authorities conducted counter-terrorism operations in five districts and three towns in Daghestan on March 15-16, according to Russian media reports.Read the full story here.