On August 3-9 at least 13 people suffered from armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week from August 3 to August 9, 2015, at least 13 people fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, including 11 killed and two wounded persons. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The death toll includes one law enforcer in Chechnya and 10 alleged members of the armed underground – eight in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) and two in Dagestan.

Attacks on law enforcers

On August 6, in the micro-district "Dubki" in the outskirt of Nalchik, a member of the armed underground, who opened fire on the policemen, was shot dead. According to a law enforcement source, the man caused policemen's suspicion. When he noticed that he was being shadowed, he opened automatic fire at policemen and then threw a grenade at them. In the shootout that followed, he was killed. Nobody was killed or wounded among law enforcers. Power agents identified the casualty as the 38-year-old Azamat Indreev. According to the law enforcement source, he had been convicted for involvement with militants, and now was engaged in recruiting people for the "Islamic State" (IS).

On August 6, at about 10:30 p.m., in the first kilometre of the highway Ekendil-Korchag, in the Suleiman Stalsky District of Dagestan, policemen tried to stop a VAZ-2109 car. In response to the policemen's demands, unidentified persons opened fire at them from inside the car. Two of them were shot dead by response fire; they are now identified. Law enforcers did not suffer. The inspection of the car resulted in a pistol, a submachine gun and a large amount of ammunition of different calibres.

On August 8, at about 11:00 a.m. Moscow time, in 2^nd Taman Division Street in Nalchik, policemen tried to stop a suspicious man, but he opened fire on them from a pistol and was killed by return fire. According to preliminary data, the killed gunman was one of the leaders of illegal armed formations (IAFs) and for several years had been on the federal wanted list. According to the representative of the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) for the KBR, the casualty was identified as Inoyat Tabukhov. He was on the federal wanted list since 2012, and is suspected of killing Rector Boris Zherukov, TV journalist Kazbek Gekkiev and investigator Alim Vorokov.

Special and counterterrorist operations

On August 3, at 2:45 a.m. Moscow time, a part of the territory of Nalchik, within Samotechnaya, Gelyaev, Musov, 2^nd Nadrechnaya, Nartanovskaya and Kalinin Streets, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime was introduced. A group of suspected militants was detected in one of multi-storey apartment buildings in the micro-district "Aleksandrovka". They rendered armed resistance to law enforcers. Several armed persons were blocked in an apartment of a nine-storey house in Musov Street in Nalchik. Power agents tried to persuade them to surrender, but they refused and attempted to break through the encirclement. In the shootout that followed six suspected militants were killed. Those identified were Bolat Likhov, 23, a resident of the Zolsky District; residents of Nalchik Anzor Tengizov, 22, Adam Shogenov, 24, and Muayed Tyazhgov, 25; and the owners of the apartment – the 30-year-old Adam Nogerov and his 20-year-old wife Zukhra. One of them, Muayed Tyazhgov is the main suspect in the murder case of Police Colonel Takhir Guziev. The apartment, where the militants were hiding, contained not only charged submachine guns and pistols, but also a so-called "shahid belt" stuffed with construction plugs and having the power of 1 kg of TNT (trotyl) equivalent.

In the area of the of Chechen-Ingush administrative border, where on August 2 a major special operation was conducted and eight suspected militants were killed, a large-scale search of IAF members was organized. Residents of the Achkhoi-Martan and Sunzha Districts of Chechnya reported the movements of major forces of power agents in their districts. According to their stories, military helicopters took part in searching for militants. As of August 7, the searches in the vicinity of the Chechen-Ingush administrative border gave no results.

On August 4, at 4:00 a.m. Moscow time, the Tsumadin District of Dagestan was put under the CTO regime. The operative headquarters received data about the movement of militant groupings. Measures were taken to find and neutralize them, said a source from the operative headquarters. According to Magomedrasul Gagiev, the deputy head of the administration of the Tsumadin District for public safety, power agents are searching for militants near the village of Echeda.

Terror acts and explosions

On August 8, troopers were scouting in the forested mountainous area of the Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya, near the village of Yandi. During their actions, an explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED), made from a 82-mm mine, occurred. The explosion killed the commander of the scouting unit; and two contract servicemen were wounded.

Detentions

On August 3, law enforcers detained a resident of the Cherek District of the KBR on suspicion of providing assistance to an IAF member. According to the police, from September 2011 to September 2012, the 25-year-old resident of the Cherek District provided shelter, foodstuffs and medicines to the IAF member, who was killed in September 2012 in the KBR. The detainee had on him over 200 rounds of ammunition and two shrapnel barrage mines, which were confiscated during a personal search.

In the evening on August 8, Asker Teminov and Murzabek Mullaev were detained in the village of Kumli, Nogai District of Dagestan. According to local residents, power agents arrived in the village in armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and detained a group of guys. It is known for sure that two of them – Asker Teminov and Murzabek Mullaev – were not released. According to a local resident, the detainees were not provided with advocates. The reason for the special operation "could be the departure of several residents and their families to the Middle East," he said.

Disappearance

On August 2, Magomed Gaikuev, 33, a resident of the village of Andi, Botlikh District of Dagestan, disappeared, as reported by his cousin Magomed Magomedov. According to his story, almost all the summer the Gaikuev and Magomedov families spend in the mountains near the border with Chechnya, where their sheep barns (sheepfolds, – note of the "Caucasian Knot") are located, and where they keep their livestock. In early August, it began raining; mowing was impossible; and Magomed Gaikuev went home. The workers, who were busy on the road, saw the missing person coming out of the trailer, where he took shelter from rain. Some time later, two vehicles – an Ural truck and an UAZ cargo-passenger van – appeared on the road. Both vehicles had number plates of the 15^th region and carried men in camouflage. The vehicles drove in the direction of Chechnya. Since then, the whereabouts of Magomed Gaikuev is unknown. This information was received on August 7.