In Kabardino-Balkaria, three out of seven special operation casualties identified

Out of seven supposed militants killed on February 11 in the vicinities of Nalchik, three have been identified. They are residents of Khasanya village Takhir Osmanov and Beslan Shavaev, and Khizir Bichekuev, a resident of Kendelen village.

It has become known from reliable sources that in 2005 Khizir Bichekuev and Takhir Osmanov were sentenced by the Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) to various terms of imprisonment. They were accused of encroachments on the life of law enforcers, illegal possession of arms and ordnance.

Then, as they pled guilty they received rather short terms. After their release, they went away to the forest. However, their names were not mentioned among the persons officially searched by the militia.

The third identified victim - Beslan Shavaev, 24, from Khasanya village, - disappeared on December 10, 2007. "He went out of his house in the evening and disappeared under unclear circumstances. As of today, there is no information about his whereabouts," Beslan's mother Fatima Shavaeva had said earlier to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Ms Shavaeva said that her son was a believer; and this could be one of the reasons of his disappearance.