On December 28, 2015-January 3, 2016, fifteen persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of December 28, 2015-January 3, 2016, at least fifteen persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, four persons were killed, and eleven others were wounded. 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 a law enforcer and a suspected member of the armed underground in Dagestan, and a civilian in Chechnya.

Attacks on law enforcers

On December 28, five kilometres north-west of the village of Batsada of the Gunib District of Dagestan, law enforcers tried to detain a man. However, he opened fire and was killed by law enforcers. According to the preliminary information, the killed man was identified as Shamil Nurmagomedov, born in 1975, who was put on the federal wanted list. According to the law enforcers, he was the leader of the "Sogratl" grouping of militants.

At about 0:30 a.m. on December 30, in Derbent, unidentified persons opened fire on local residents in the area of Naryn-Kala Fortress. At night, a group of local residents, including two border guards, reached an observation deck of Naryn-Kala Fortress to watch the night lights of Derbent. The unidentified attackers opened heavy fire on them from the forest. At the place of the incident, field investigators found more than 60 shells from two submachine guns of different calibres. According to the Investigating Department for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), tourists were shelled from three points. As a result of the attack, one person – a border guard from Derbent was killed. Other 11 persons, including a contract soldier, were wounded. The attackers managed to escape. The "Islamic State" (IS) recognized as a terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the IS, the Russian soldiers were a target of shelling in Derbent.

Special and counterterrorist operations

On January 1, 2016, field commander Musa Zavgaev and his accomplice Bashir Omarov were blocked in a house on the outskirts of the Cossack village of Mekenskaya of the Naur District of Chechnya. When offered to lay down their weapons and surrender, they opened fire and were killed by return fire. According to the authorities, since 2000, Musa Zavgaev called himself the emir of the Nadterechny and Naur Districts, and he was involved in the killings of policemen and other officials. Both killed men had connections with the criminal grouping of Tagilov, the leader of the western sector of the armed underground. The above criminal grouping was directly involved in the militants' attack on Grozny committed in December. During the special operation in the Cossack village of Mekenskaya, four law enforcers were slightly injured by shrapnel of a rifle grenade. No civilians suffered.

Bombings and terror acts

At 7:22 p.m. of December 12, 2015, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated at the fourth kilometre of the road Vremenny-Shamilkala. The explosion occurred on the side of the road while a police convoy, including Ural and KamAZ trucks, was driving by. On December 31, 2015, two residents of the village of Kharachi of the Untsukul District were brought to the police station. According to the law enforcement bodies, the villagers admitted their involvement in the explosion. Both suspects were detained.