Counterterrorism in Northern Caucasus-2010: Kabardino-Balkaria

In 2010, Kabardino-Balkaria saw a marked splash of activities of the armed underground.

According to politicians and experts, one of the reasons was the end of the term of office of the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) Arsen Kanokov last autumn (on September 1, 2010, he was approved for a new term).

Overall, in 2010 the republic reported about at least 41 cases of shelling and attacks on employees of law enforcement bodies; 23 power agents were lost, and 35 more wounded.

In their turn, the local law enforcers reported about liquidation of 24 and detention of 7 members of illegal armed formations (IAFs). Besides, according to power agencies, during 2010, 26 explosive devices were detected and neutralized in Kabardino-Balkaria. These are the calculations of the "Caucasian Knot" based on open sources.

Within the actions to fight against the armed underground, in 2010, Kabardino-Balkaria two times locally introduced the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime.

For almost two months – from October 20 to December 25 – the CTO regime was in force in the city of Tyrnyauz. It was introduced after an armed clash in the Elbrus District of the KBR, where one militiaman and three attackers were killed. Then, law enforcers blocked a group of suspected militants in the mine of the non-operational tungsten-molybdenum factory in Tyrnyauz.

In the skirmish on November 4, power agents killed two residents of Tyrnyauz – Arthur Sottaev and Ruslan Uyanaev. According to law enforcers, both were on the federal wanted list for committing terrorist crimes.

A short-term CTO regime was introduced on August 27 in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. In the course of the active phase of the special operation on that day five suspected militants, who hid in a high-rise apartment block, were liquidated. None of the civilians was warned about the operation; therefore, some panic arouse among the civilian population in the vicinity of the operation.