A Russian soldier in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic was assassinated by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia on suspicion of having ties to the extremist Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

The individual in question, who was shot dead by the FSB in the Russian North Caucasus village of Adil-Khalk, was allegedly preparing an attack on law enforcement personnel. According to RIA Novosti, Russia’s official news agency, an improvised explosive device and a Kalashnikov assault weapon were discovered at the scene on Friday.

According to the Federal Security Service, “the terrorist was also found to have correspondence with coordinators who are abroad,” the publication stated.

Ethnic conflicts flare up on occasion in the volatile Karachay-Cherkessia area, which is dominated by the indigenous Caucasian-Turkic Karachay people and the Cherkess or Circassian people. The FSB said in December that it had detained 14 alleged members of a radical Islamist group in the country.

According to Baza, a Russian Telegram group with purported connections to Russia’s security agencies, the Russian serviceman was 25 years old and suspected of having links to ISIS.

On Wednesday, a criminal prosecution was filed against the man under the Article “participation in a terrorist organisation.” Baza stated that the FSB sought to detain him on Thursday night. “During the arrest, the military man resisted and was killed,” the channel added.

ISIS took credit for the attack in March on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert venue, which left at least 140 people dead and several others injured. It was the most deadly attack on the capital in more than a decade.