On May 2-8, 2016, four persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of May 2-8, 2016, at least four persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. 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 three suspected members of the armed underground and one law enforcer, all of them in Dagestan.

Attacks on law enforcers

At about 9:00 p.m. of May 3, in the village of Stalskoe in the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan, policemen tried to stop a car and were shelled from it. Three persons inside the car were killed by return fire. No law enforcer was injured. One of the three killed men was identified as Umar Sabuev, born in 1982, the leader of the local "Kizilyurt" armed grouping. Another man killed in the shootout was identified as 25-year-old Abas Khubaev, a native of the village of Endirei of the Khasavyurt District.

At about 2:00 a.m. Moscow time of May 6, a Police Captain of the Internal Service of the Division of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), who held the position of the chief accountant for the ROVD (District Interior Division) for the Suleiman-Stalsky District, was killed in the village of Ashagastal of the Suleiman-Stalsky District. The police officer was shelled from an automatic firearm of unidentified pattern and died on the way to the central district hospital. According to the preliminary information, the attacker was a hired killer. He fled the place. Till present, no possible motives for the killing have been reported.

In the morning of May 7, in a forest area near the village of Chere of the Khiv District of Dagestan, policemen discovered a dugout with small arms, ammunition, food, clothes, and equipment of members of an illegal armed formation (IAF). After that, unidentified persons opened fire on the policemen. No one was injured as a result of the incident. In the course of the shootout, unidentified men managed to flee.

Bombings and terror acts

At about 10:00 p.m. of May 4, an explosive device was activated under a car near the house in Oskanov Street in Nazran. As a result of the explosion, no one was injured, and the car was severely damaged. According to the preliminary information, the blown-up Mercedes off-roader belongs to Ibragim Belkharoev, a religious figure. Ibragim Belkharoev himself treated the explosion as an attempt on his life. According to him, this is the second attempt to assassinate him. Later, an official from the Ingush MIA reported that the Mercedes car near the Ibragim Belkharoev's house "was destroyed by fire, but was not blown up." The version of arson is also under consideration, as well as the version of self-ignition of the car.

Detentions

On May 5, advocate Kheirula Shabanov, who was suspected of involvement in an IAF, was detained in Dagestan. According to investigators, in August 2014, on the outskirts of the village of Gotsatl of the Khunzakh District, the man met members of the IAF, including Khadjimurad Gadjiev. During the meeting, according to investigators, the advocate joined the militant grouping and agreed to aid and abet them: in particular, to transport people and deliver food and money to the IAF members. The court of the Soviet District of Makhachkala took Kheirula Shabanov in custody for two months.