In Chechnya, four girls join militants, their relatives complain of power agents' pressure

Recently, four young women from the Sunzha District of Chechnya left their homes and joined the ranks of the armed underground.

"Naturally, their parents knew nothing about their intentions, but now they face serious problems. Power agents demand that they immediately find the girls and return them home; otherwise they threaten to execute the parents. People are very frightened and don't know what to do," a Chechen human rights activist, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He believes that finding the girls who have left for the forest is surely impracticable for the parents. "Militants' bases are in remote mountain-woody areas; they are kept secret, otherwise they would have been long detected and liquidated. Besides, forests here are literally stuffed with mines and fougasses; thus, it's practically impossible to find the girls who are now with militants somewhere in the mountains," said the source.

He notes that power agents understand it quite well. If the parents could have known about the plans of their daughters, they would have never let them go away to practically true death.

"Nevertheless, there's practice here in the republic, approved by the leadership, when militants' relatives are exposed to constant pressure and persecution," the activist asserts.