Residents of Untsukul District report about explosions and forest fire near Kharachi

In the vicinity of the village of Kharachi, Untsukul District of Dagestan, which remains blocked by law enforcers since November 15, shell explosions are heard; and the forest adjacent the village is on fire, locals are reporting.

According to local residents, shells are exploding since morning of November 18. The Untsukul ROVD has explained that an operation of searching militants is conducted in the village and the surrounding wooded territory. However, according to the source, the shelling is not inside the village, but close to it.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported, referring to locals, that by the afternoon on November 16, law enforcers detained about 15 people, including the local Imam, the head of the village Gadjimurad Saladinov and school director Chupalav Magomedkhanov. On November 16, their relatives gathered outside the police station in Shamilkala, demanding explanations. By the evening of the same day, according to villagers, ten detainees were released without presenting any charges.

Besides, on November 15, at 2:20 p.m., near the village mosque, a native born in 1989 threw two grenades in the direction of policemen, said the press service of the Russian MIA for the Untsukul District. Only one grenade went off; nobody was hurt, while the attacker fled into the mountains and forests in the outskirts of the village together with another local resident, born in 1961.