On June 13-19, 2016, 20 persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of June 13-19, 2016, 16 persons were killed in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, and four 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 five law enforcers in Dagestan and 11 suspected members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), including 10 in Dagestan and one in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

Special and counterterrorist operations

On June 16-17, law enforcers conducted a special operation near the village of Kasumkent of the Suleiman-Stalsky District of Dagestan, in the vicinity of the village of Gedjukh of the Derbent District, and a forest in the Tabasaran District. As a result of the special operations, 10 suspected militants, one FSB agent, and three staff members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) were killed. Besides, five fighters of Special Forces were hospitalized with injuries. By the evening of June 17, at a military hospital, a Special Forces fighter died from wounds got during the special operation. Thus, the number of law enforcers killed in the special operations carried out in the south of Dagestan reached five persons, and the total number of the casualties reached 15. The rest of the hospitalized law enforcers remain under the physicians' supervision; however, there is no threat to their lives. The killed suspected IAF members were identified as 17-year-old Miraslan Abdullaev and Rasul Magomedov, 21-year-old Naim Esretaliev, 23-year-old Zakerzha Zakerzhaev, 37-year-old Odyssey Umarov, 24-year-old Bagrat Kachaev, 21-year-old Shamsutdin Asvarov, 30-year-old Ali Gadjikurbanov, 22-year-old Magomed Suleimanov, and 39-year-old Gasan Abdullaev. Gasan Abdullaev was on the federal wanted list since 2009, and seven others killed men, including 17-year-old Miraslan Abdullaev, were put on the wanted list in 2016. According to the report, only Magomedov and Suleimanov were not on the wanted list.

Starting from 7:00 a.m. Moscow time of June 18, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime was introduced in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. The special operation was carried out in Kalinin and Shota Rustaveli Streets. In Kalinin Street, a suspected militant surrendered to law enforcers as a result of the negotiations. In Shota Rustaveli Street, a suspected militant opened fire on law enforcers from a private house blocked by them. He was killed by return fire. Another suspected militant was detained. During the special operation, no law enforcers or civilians suffered. The CTO legal regime was cancelled at 10:00 a.m. Moscow time. In the house in Shota Rustaveli Street, where the killed man lived, law enforcers discovered a laboratory for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), reports a source from the law enforcement bodies of the KBR. There, they found a powerful ready-to-use IED. It was destroyed at the place.

Explosions and terror acts

At 0:15 a.m. Moscow time of June 14, on the outskirts of Makhachkala, in the village of Novy Khushet, an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at the side of the road when a car of the patrol-and-post service (known as PPS) with several policemen was driving by. No casualties were reported. The power of the IED was about 200 grams of TNT equivalent.

Attacks on civilians

On June 14, in Dagestan, in Buynaksky Avenue in the village of Karabudakhkent, unidentified persons shelled a car of the director of the local House of Culture, when he was getting into his car. He got a perforating wound of his abdomen. He stays in the hospital, and there is no threat to his life. Criminals travelled in a car, and they opened fire from it. The car is wanted.

Detentions

On June 14, law enforcers detained a 19-year resident of Baksan. According to them, he was involved in the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), prohibited in Russia by the court. The young man stored in his house a ready-to-use IED with power of about three kilograms of TNT equivalent. In the house, law enforcers discovered a mini-laboratory for the manufacture of IEDs. The IED was packed with construction dowels, and combat engineers destroyed it at the place. The detained young man is a student of the medical college, and he lives together with his mother.

On June 17, a 44-year-old resident of Ingushetia was detained on suspicion of aiding and abetting militants. According to investigators, in the period from 2009 till May 21, 2016, the suspect rendered assistance to members of an IAF, acting on the territory of the Nazran District. Investigators believe that he arranged hidings with firearms and ammunition, IEDs and explosives, purchased and brought members of an IAF various items of clothing. Besides, the suspect provided them with money and information.

Disappearances

On June 16 and 17, 2016, Ramazan Rashidov and his relative Shamil Ramazanov, residents of Kaspiysk, disappeared under unclear circumstances. At 2:30 p.m. of June 16, Shamil Ramazanov, born in 1990, left the store and "said that he would go to the marketplace, and then stopped to answer his mobile phone." At 9:15 a.m. of June 17, Ramazan Rashidov left Kaspiysk in his black BMW car for Makhachkala to reach his job place at the "Bosch" electric tools shop. Meanwhile, he never arrived to his work. At about 9:40 a.m., relatives called him, and he replied that he would call them back. However, after that his mobile phone was switched off. Both disappeared men are preventively registered at the police station, and they have no earlier criminal records.