During week of December 15-21, 2014, three persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of December 15-21, 2014, at least three persons were killed in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded persons were reported. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

According to the law enforcement bodies, all the killed persons were involved in the armed underground in Kabardino-Balkaria.

Special and counterterrorist operations

At 5:00 a.m. Moscow time of December 18, a regime of counterterrorist operation (CTO) was introduced within the administrative boundaries of the village of Dygulybgei of the Baksan District of Kabardino-Balkaria. There, suspected members of the armed underground, who opened fire on policemen, were blocked in one of the private houses. Prior to the beginning of the active phase of the special operation, an elderly man, two women, and three children were withdrawn from the cordoned-off house with yard. Three suspected members of illegal armed formations (IAF) were killed in the shootout. According to the preliminary information, two of them were members of the "Baksan" criminal grouping. The CTO regime was lifted at 9:45 a.m. Moscow time of the same day. The number of the killed militants includes Andzor Guchapshev, treated by law enforcers as the leader of "the north-eastern sector" of the armed underground on the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria. The second killed man was identified as Martin Abazov, a 32-year-old resident of the village of Dygulybgei. The information regarding the third killed person was not disclosed.

Detentions

On December 19, in Buynaksk, after Jummah namaz, armed policemen in masks detained several mosque-goers of the Salafi mosque and brought them to the police station. In total, 10-15 persons were detained. An official from the Buynaksk GOVD (City Interior Division) has stated that the mosque-goers are to be identified and then released.

Kidnappings

On December 8, Djamal Makhmudov, a native of Dagestan, disappeared in Stavropol. On December 15, his relatives filed a complaint about his disappearance. In the morning of the day of his disappearance, Djamal Makhmudov and his wife visited a clinic. When they were returning home, the man noticed they were watched. At about 3:00 p.m., Djamal Makhmudov left the home and went to the city on business. At about 6:30 p.m., he called his wife and asked her to meet him near their house. However, law enforcers approached the house instead of the man and showed his wife a search warrant. The apartment was searched, and the law enforcers seized electronic information carriers and documents. According to the relatives of the disappeared man, the criminal case under Part 1 of Article 205.1 (aiding and abetting terrorist activities) has been initiated against Djamal Makhmudov, and he is accused of recruiting and financing militants to go to Syria. However, relatives of the missing man know nothing of his whereabouts.