Shelling of a DPS service car becomes 15th IS* attack in Dagestan

In Dagestan, the killing of policemen in the Kizilyurt District has become the third incident since the beginning of the year, the responsibility for which was claimed by the IS*. Since 2015, it was reported about 15 attacks of IS militants in Dagestan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the evening on July 20, the DPS car was shelled on the "Caucasus" route in the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan. Attackers escaped. It was reported that two out of three policemen in the service car were killed, and the third one was wounded. The terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) banned in Russia by the court has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

A source from the law enforcement bodies has already announced the connection of the attack with the earlier IS* attack in Dagestan: an explosion committed at the grave of Sheikh Said Afandi Chirkeisky in May. According to the law enforcement bodies, the same people, members of the "Khasavyurt" militant grouping, are involved in the shelling of the police service car and the explosion at the grave of Sheikh Said Afandi Chirkeisky.

In 2018, the first IS* attack in Dagestan was also committed against a religious site. On February 18, during the celebration of Shrovetide, 22-year-old Khalil Khalilov shelled people from a rifle near an Orthodox church in Kizlyar. Five women were killed, and four other persons were hospitalized. The assailant himself was killed. Sources called Khalil Khalilov a member of a "dormant unit" of the IS*, but the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" assumed that the attacker could have acted along and had no direct connection with the terrorist organization.

Until 2018, it was reported about 12 attacks committed by IS* militants in the territory of Dagestan and 9 cases when the IS* claimed responsibility for attacks in the republic.

For the first time, the "Islamic State"* claimed conducting a military operation in Dagestan in September 2015. The information resources affiliated with the militants then reported a successful attack on military barracks in the Magaramkent District. However, local residents and law enforcers did not confirm that such an attack generally had taken place.

According to the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot", prior to shelling the DPS service car in Dagestan on July 20, militants of the IS* committed 20 attacks in Northern Caucasus. The recent attack, the responsibility for which was claimed by the IS*, was an attack on the temple in Grozny on May 19.

* IS ("Islamic State", formerly ISIL) is recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia by the court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 21, 2018 at 03:37 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.