Houses of militants' relatives again burned down in Chechnya, Sulim Yunusov asserts

According to journalist Sulim Yunusov, a native of Kurchaloi District, who had been granted political asylum in Germany, about three weeks ago in Chechnya the houses of parents whose sons joined illegal armed formations, have been burned.

"It happened in my native village of Geldigen of Kurchaloi District. The second house to the left of the river in the main street, if to come from Grozny direction, was damaged. As far as I know, three houses had been burned," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Sulim Yunusov.

The names of aggrieved families' members are not listed for safety considerations.

"Reports on arsons of houses are trustworthy, since it has recently been reported that the youth of Kurchaloi District went to the mountains," believes Akhmed Gisaev, a human rights activist.

According to the residents of Shali, Kurchaloi and Gudermes Districts, who also preferred to stay anonymous, only recently up to 120 people joined the militants. Villagers claim that four or five countrymen of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, residents of Khosi-Yurt village of Kurchaloi District joined the militants.

According to the local residents, in a range of villages of these three districts power agents captured close relatives of the young people who went to the mountains. They were allegedly brought to the Vedeno District of Chechnya, where in late June a regular large-scale special operation against members of the armed underground.

At the same time, Kheda Saratova, a Chechen human rights activist, said that the villagers of Geldigen, who were managed to contact, did not confirm information about the arsons.

The representatives of Chechen power agencies also do not confirm information about the arsons. "We know nothing about it. In any case, no one submitted a declaration of arson," said Magomed Deniev, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya.

Operations duty officer of the ROVD (District Interior Division) of Kurchaloi also noted that residents of Geldagan village did not submit any declaration of arson.