'Clean-up' numbers soar in Chechnya

At dawn on 1 November, federal forces blocked the Valerik village, Achkhoi-Martan district (in the southwest of Chechnya). A so-called "passport regime check" or "clean-up" is being conducted in the settlement.

According to the information available, the "clean-up" is a large-scale one. The military is conducting a house-to-house check of the people's ID documents. In doing so, special attention is paid to young men. There is no information about any incidents in the course of these "special operations" though.

Meanwhile, residents of the republic indicate that the number of "clean-ups" in Chechnya's settlements has grown dramatically. Thus, "large-scale clean-ups" were conducted in the temporary accommodation point for internally displaced persons in the Oktiabrskii district of Grozny and the village of Olkhzar-Kiotar (Alkhazurovo), Urus-Martan district, on 31 October. A similar "special operation" was also conducted in this village on 29 October.

There was a "clean-up" in Samashki, Achkhoi-Martan district, the day before. And law enforcement / security agencies were "cleaning up" Aldy in Grozny's Zavodskoi district on 27 October.

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