Instagram users distrust of law enforcers after CTO in KBR

Counterterrorist operations (CTOs) against alleged militants end with the killing of all suspects; but no convincing proofs of casualties' guilt is provided to the public, Instagram users have noted in their comments to the law enforcers' operative video from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 22, the Russian FSB (Federal Security Bureau) claimed the prevention of a terror act in the KBR. According to the FSB, at a detention attempt in the Chegem District, four members of the "Islamic State" (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court), who had been preparing a terror act, were killed.

A video from the venue of the CTO was posted in the direct_kbr community on July 22.

Social network users, while commenting on the video, expressed doubts about the law enforcers' version. Some of them noted that the IS activeness has long faded away.

Some users expressed indignation that all the alleged militants were killed in the CTO. "Why don't they detain but kill them? Who gave them the right to kill? Prove their guilt first – but they just report 'militants have been liquidated.' According to one scenario, our purgatory agents work; they earn new stars on their shoulder-straps; but what about poor parents?" the user kuchmezovazaika has asked.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 23, 2020 at 08:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.