Armed clash in Tsotsi-Yurt was first incident in this village for 15 years

The Chechen village of Tsotsi-Yurt, where on January 11 five persons were killed in a shootout, saw no such incidents for the last 15 years. The previous major incident took place there in February 2002, when an armoured vehicle with militaries was blown up in the vicinity of the village. From time to time there are reports about incidents in other dwelling settlements of the district. Thus, the ancestral village of Ramzan Kadyrov – Tsentoroi – was attacked by militants.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 11, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, reported that four militants and one power agent were killed in the armed clash.

On February 12, 2002, near the village, a Russian armoured vehicle blew up on a mine, killing two soldiers and wounding three others. On the same evening, according to rights defenders, the outskirts of the village were shelled, killing two local residents and wounding a woman with a child.

During the second Chechen campaign, Tsotsi-Yurt saw special operations aimed to search for members of the underground. According to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", such special operations were conducted in May, June, September, October and December 2001.

In 2004, power agents reported a prevented terror act in the village and detention of suspected militants' helpers.

On July 28, 2015, a shootout broke out in the outskirts of the villages of Ilaskhan-Yurt and Mairtup of the Kurchaloi District; however, there were no victims among civilians. According to locals, it was a clash of power agents and members of the armed underground.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.