Northern Caucasus a year before the Olympics: chronicle of terror acts

On February 7, 2014, Sochi will host the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games. In the context of the ongoing conflict in Northern Caucasus, the "Caucasian Knot" is hereby publishing a chronicle of sabotage and terror acts committed in the pre-Olympic year in the North-Caucasian and Southern Federal Districts (NCFD and SFD).

According to calculations of the "Caucasian Knot", based on its own materials and information from other open sources, in the period from January 1 to December 29, 2013, a total of 33 terror acts were committed in the NCFD and SFD. Eight terrorist acts were committed by suicide bombers.

In total, in total, 81 terror act involving 123 suicide bombers were committed in Russia since 2000.

In the morning on December 30, in Volgograd, an explosion was triggered in a trolleybus. According to various sources, the explosion, which is already recognized as a terror act, hurt from 15 to 23 people.

On December 29, a blast occurred at the railway station in Volgograd. 18 people were killed and at least 40 were injured. A criminal case was opened after the explosion under Articles 205 (terror act) and 222 (illegal circulation of weapons) of the Russian Criminal Code.

On December 27, a car was blown up near the GIBDD (traffic police) building, located in Circassian Highway in Pyatigorsk. According to the Russian MIA, three occasional bystanders were killed.

On November 23, a powerful bomb was triggered near dumpsters in Makhachkala in Gogol Street, as a result of which, according to the MIA, the transporter of the device was killed. According to the ICRF, the casualty was identified as a resident of Makhachkala Magomed Suleimanov, born in 1980.

On November 8, an explosive device detonated in the store "24 Hours" in Makhachkala. The explosion killed one person and wounded another one.

On October 21, in Volgograd, an explosive device was triggered in a bus by a female suicide bomber. As a result, seven people were killing. According to investigators, the self-explosion was committed by a 30-year-old Naida Asiyalova, a native of Dagestan. According to the ICRF, the bomber had shortly before that converted to Islam and was the wife of one of the leaders of illegal armed formations (IAFs).

On September 7, in the city of Derbent, a car belonging to a policeman was blown up by unidentified persons near the GOVD (City Interior Division). As a result, the policeman was killed; he was a member of the special combat unit of the Dagestani MIA, an elite unit that conducts counterterrorist operations.

On June 6, in the village of Shamilkala, Untsukul District of Dagestan, a car belonging to a policeman was blown up. The local MIA confirmed the death of one and contusion of another policeman.

On May 25, in the centre of Makhachkala, next to the MIA of Dagestan, a suicide bombing was committed by a female suicide bomber, who was identified as the 25-year-old Madina Alieva. She was a civil law wife of two earlier neutralized militants Aliev and Djapaev. According to the MIA of Dagestan, the explosion killed one person and wounded 14 other ones.

On May 20, at the building of court marshals in Ordzhonikidze Street in Makhachkala, two explosions occurred. Four people were killed and 52 others wounded. The investigation has classified the incident as a terror act.

On May 1, an explosion was triggered near the store "Interskol" near the Prosecutor's Office of the Lenin District of Makhachkala, killing two 10-year-old boys, pupils of the Makhachkala Lyceum No. 5. Earlier, as an eyewitness said, an explosive device had been already found near that store.

On February 14, in Khasavyurt (Dagestan) at the DPS (road-and-police service) checkpoint, at the time, when policemen stopped a Lada Priora car for inspection, a strong explosion happened, which killed 10 persons, including law enforcement officers. The ICRF qualified the incident as a terror act.