During the week of May 23-29, 17 persons were lost in armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of May 23-29, the glowing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus took away at least 17 human lives; at least two more persons were wounded. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on own materials of the edition and information from other open sources.

Among the casualties there were nine suspects of involvement in the armed underground, four civilians, three power agents and one state official. One power agent and one civilian were wounded. 14 persons were killed in Dagestan, one in Ingushetia, one in Kabardino-Balkaria and one in North Ossetia. One person was injured in Dagestan and one in Ingushetia.

During the week there were seven armed clashes, three attempts on power agents, three - on civilians and one - on officials.

Three terror acts were prevented: in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. Thus, in vicinity of the city of Tyrnyauz in Kabardino-Balkaria in the highway "Baksan-Azau" two mines were found. Law enforcers believe that it was an attempt on the president of the republic. In Ingushetia, an improvised explosive device (IED) was found at the former fuelling station near the central marketplace of the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya; a local resident informed the local FSB branch about it by the hotline. In Dagestan, police officers defused two bombs in the Kazbek District.

Four combat clashes burst out in Dagestan within the above seven days, two - in Ingushetia, and one - in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). Ten people were killed: nine suspects of involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs) and one policeman. One person, a power agent, was injured in the skirmish.

In the village of Chontaul, Kizilyurt District of Dagestan a counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime was introduced. During the power agents' attack on a house with suspected militants inside, three suspects and a policeman were killed. In the same district a man who attacked a police car was killed. Three suspected IAF members were killed in the Karabudakhkent District of Dagestan. In one case, two armed men were killed in the forest by artillery fire from a helicopter, in the other case policemen shot dead a local resident who rendered armed resistance, when they tried to search his car.

Also, in the Ingush city of Nazran, according to power agents, when they tried to check documents, a man in a car tried to resist and was killed. In the vicinity of the village of Verkhniy Alkun, Sunzha District of Ingushetia, during clashes with militants a soldier was wounded. In the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, Asker Shidov, an alleged militant, was killed at detention.

Two attacks on power agents took place last week in Dagestan and one attack - in Kabardino-Balkaria. Thus, in Kizlyar, Dagestan, a police officer was killed on May 29 at night by a shot in his head, while in Khasavyurt unknown people shot major Anvar Aliev, an inspector for administrative practice of the GIBDD (road police) of the city OVD (Interior Division). In the Baksan District of Kabardino-Balkaria unidentified persons from inside a hijacked car opened fire on the policemen following them; nobody was hurt.

Two attacks against civilians were committed in Dagestan and one in North Ossetia. In the Kizlyar District of Dagestan, on the shore of a lake, a married couple of fishermen were executed from a firearm. In the capital of the republic a restaurant was shelled at night; one person was injured. In North Ossetia Shamil Dzhigkaev, a poet and a dean of the Department of Philology of the North Ossetian State University was killed. According to the law enforcement bodies, the alleged killer was "a supporter of radical Islamists."

In Dagestan an attempt on a state official was committed. In Kaspiisk, unidentified persons opened fire at Magomedgadji Aliev, a deputy of the city assembly and head of Municipal Unitary Enterprise (MUE) "Gorvodokanal", who drove his Lexus to his house. The bureaucrat was killed, and the attackers fled.

Last week at least five persons were detained on suspicion of involvement in IAFs or as militants' helpers: four of them in Chechnya, and one in Dagestan. In the Oktiabrskiy District of Grozny an armed young man and his companion were detained. In Grozny and in the mountainous Vedeno District two local residents suspected of providing shelter to militants, were detained.

Besides, in the village of Sultanyangiyurt, Kizilyurt District of Dagestan, on May 28 unidentified persons kidnapped a local resident Shamil Omarov. This was reported by Svetlana Isaeva, co-chair of the organization "Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights". Relatives fear that power agents may expose Shamil as a militant liquidated during a regular special operation.