Five people detained in special operations in Sunzha district, Chechnya

Officers of Chechnya's law enforcement and security agencies conducted "target clean-up operations" in Assinovskaia, Sunzha district, Chechnya, on the night of July 5. Some people were detained.

"Last night, with a view to implementing some intelligence our officers in cooperation with representatives of federal forces conducted 'target' activities in Assinovskaia. This operation resulted in the detention of five people suspected of being members of IAF (illegal armed formations) and having taken part in the recent attack on Ingushetia. All the detainees were delivered to the detention center. Investigators are currently working with them," a source in the republican Internal Affairs Ministry told Caucasian Knot's correspondent. "The operation for the search and detention of people involved in the developments in Ingushetia on the night of June 22 has been conducted in the republic's neighboring areas for a second week already. And we have already had some specific results," he said. The interlocutor refused to give the surnames of the detainees with reference to the secret of investigation.

In the meanwhile, residents of Chechnya's Sunzha district express concerns with regard to the worsening situation in that area of Chechnya. "A lot of military and armored vehicles have been driven to this district since June 22. There are troops around our villages (Assinovskaia and Sernovodskaia). They have not undertook any action as yet, but they can block communities at any moment and make 'large-scale clean-ups' here with a lot of people detained and young men "filtered," like it used to happen two or three years ago. In the meantime, local law enforcement and security agencies are 'working' here, but they aren't any better. By night, they burst into the houses of civilians, seize young men and take them no one knows where. In doing so, no one gives any explanations to the detainees' relatives as regards the reasons for the arrest of their family members. People are extremely alarmed at this situation," a district resident, Usman Iznaurov, 35, says.