The Ministry of Interior Affairs: the gunmen in Vedeno district of Chechnya managed to escape from encirclement

The search of the group of gunmen who on July, 2, started skirmish with members of power ministries in a mountainous and woody area of the highland district of Vedeno has ended in failure. The officers do not rule out that the participants of a paramilitary group under the command of Gakaev brothers could have left the blocked area in several small groups.

In the morning of June, 2, during a skirmish with the group of participants of armed underground in the mountainous and woody area near the settlement of Khattuni, one officer of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Chechnya was killed and two more wounded. On June, 3, the operation on search and neutralization of a group of gunmen of approximately 12 people was recommenced.

“Search of the gunmen’s group is going on in an active regime. The blocked square is being combed simultaneously with ambush actions at the points of their possible movement”, a representative of the republican power ministries says.

The officer suggested that the gunmen might have moved to the neighbouring Shali district or to a hard-to-reach area in the mountainous and woody Vedeno district and hidden themselves at one of their bases.

The personnel of the Ministry of Interior Affairs assume that brothers Husein and Muslim Gakaev, natives of the settlement of Elistnzhi, Vedeno district, are commanders of the detected group of gunmen. According to the data of the office, Husein Gakaev was one of the Chechen gunmen’s commanders who last August came into conflict with the leader of armed underground Dokku Umarov and declared their refusal to obey him.