Foreign instructors are preparing terrorist groups to launch attacks in Russia, an Interior Ministry official said on Thursday.

"Terrorist groups are being trained by foreign instructors at military bases in Georgia to carry out terrorist acts in Russia," Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev said.

He added that the regions being targeted for "destabilization" were the North Caucasus and the south of Russia.

Yedelev added that he believed that Islamic clerics who spoke out against the rise of religious extremism were also likely to be targeted.

Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over South Ossetia in August 2008.

Russia's North Caucasus, in particular the volatile Muslim republics of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, have seen a rise in violence, with frequent attacks on official and police.

VLADIKAVKAZ, January 14 (RIA Novosti)