Chinese and Russian policemen attend a joint anti-terror drill in Manzhouli City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Oct. 20, 2014. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

MOSCOW, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The threat of terrorism persists in Russia in spite of measures taken by law enforcement and special services to reduce the vulnerability to people and facilities, a committee said Tuesday.

"The threat associated with possible attacks of international terrorist organizations, especially the Islamic State (IS), as well as bandit groups operating in the North Caucasus region, remains," Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAC) said in a statement quoting its head, Alexander Bortnikov.

Federal executive bodies and anti-terrorist commissions need to consistently implement measures to protect socially important facilities and also finalize procedures for classifying mass gatherings of people, Bortnikov said.

He added that, in spite of the established system for the prevention of terrorism in public transportation, it was necessary to develop additional measures to ensure the security of air, rail and road infrastructure facilities.

The NAC is a body that oversees anti-terror coordination in federal, regional and local executive bodies, and presents relevant proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It groups heads of nearly all of Russia's law enforcement agencies, special services, key government departments, as well as of both chambers of the Russian parliament. The chairman of the NAC is also the head of the Federal Security Service.

Russia has foiled 12 terrorist attacks in the first half of the year, according to a recent report by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.