On August 22-28, 2016, five persons killed in armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of August 22-28, 2016, five persons were killed in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

All the killed people were suspected members of the armed underground. Of them, three were killed in Dagestan and two in Kabardino-Balkaria.

Attacks on law enforcers

At about 9:45 p.m. of August 24, in one of the gorges not far from the village of Goor-Khindakh, an armed clash took place in the territory of the Shamil District of Dagestan. According to a Dagestani law enforcer, two armed men refused to produce their IDs and opened fire on the law enforcers. As a result, two suspected militants were killed in the course of the shootout. No law enforcer suffered. The killed young men were identified as Nabi Gasanguseinov and his older brother Gasangusein Gasanguseinov. Both of them lived in the village of Goor-Khindakh. Their fellow villagers wrote an open letter to Vladimir Putin, the General Prosecutor's Office, and the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). In their open letter, the villages have stated that Gasangusein and Nabi Gasanguseinov had no connections with militants and that the law enforcement bodies are to be brought to responsibility for the brothers' murder.

On August 26, in a wooded area near the village of Gubden, law enforcers demanded from an armed man to produce his ID. However, in response, the man opened fire on the law enforcers from small arms. The suspected militant was killed as a result of the shootout. No injuries among law enforcers were reported.

Special and counterterrorist operations

At 6:20 a.m. Moscow time of August 27, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime was introduced in Nalchik and in the Chegem District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). While conducting a special operation near the village of Nartan, a suburb of Nalchik, law enforcers discovered two militants in a forest dugout. Both suspects were killed as a result of the shootout. No law enforcer suffered in the course of the special operation. At 9:00 a.m., the CTO legal regime was lifted. The killed men have been preliminary identified as Alim Bitokov, a leader of an illegal armed formation (IAF), active in the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria, and Ibragim Gugov. In the dugout, apart from submachine guns, ammunition and grenades, law enforcers found clothes, personal hygiene items and other things, which allowed concluding that the killed men lived there for a long time.

At 9:00 p.m. Moscow time of August 27, the CTO legal regime was introduced within the administrative borders of the Karabudakhkent District of Dagestan. Two suspected accomplices of militants were detained in the village of Ulubi-Aul. At home of one of the detainees, law enforcers discovered several improvised grenades, an F-1 grenade, and ammunition. The detainees are to be identified. At night of August 28, on the outskirts of the village of Ulubi-Aul, an armed clash occurred between law enforcers and suspected militants. The militants escaped. No information about victims is reported.