On September 16-22, 2019, two persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of September 16-22, 2019, two persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Both killed persons were suspected members of the armed underground in Kabardino-Balkaria.

CTO in Kabardino-Balkaria

At night on September 18, it was reported that members of an illegal armed formation (IAF) were hiding in one of the private houses in the city of Chegem, and the counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime was introduced in the city at 5:00 a.m. Moscow time, the FSB Department for Kabardino-Balkaria reported. Law enforcers cordoned off the house and people inside were offered to surrender, but in response they opened fire on the law enforcers, the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) reported. As a result, both suspected militants were killed, and at the place of the shootout, the law enforcers "discovered an improvised explosive device (IED) ready for use, machine guns, and ammunition," the NAC's press service reported. None of civilians or law enforcers was injured, the NAC reports. According to a source from the Kabardino-Balkarian law enforcement bodies, the killed suspects were members of a unit of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court. According to the preliminary information, one of the killed suspects was identified as a local resident, born in 1995, and the second suspect was a native of the "neighbouring republic," born in 1999. The CTO legal regime in Chegem was lifted on the same day at 12:00 a.m. Moscow time.

Detentions in Chechnya and Dagestan

On September 9, in Chechnya, a father, other relatives, and several acquaintances of Usman Aziev, who was killed in Grozny while attempting to attack policemen, were detained. This was reported on September 17 by Ruslan, a close relative of the Aziev family.

Most of the detained Usman Aziev's relatives and friends were later released. However, as of September 17, three persons, including an Usman Aziev's cousin and two of his close acquaintances, were still being kept by law enforcers, Ruslan reported. According to the relatives, law enforcers beaten some detainees and demanded from them to confess that they had been aware of the Usman Aziev's plans to attack law enforcers. The body of the killed suspect was not given out to his family members, and the law enforcers forbade conducting a mourning ritual to commemorate him, the relatives said.

On September 18, the NAC reported that a young man, born in 2000, was detained in the Tarumovsky District of Dagestan. According to the law enforcement bodies, he arranged a hiding in the forest and stored an improvised explosive device (IED) of high power there. The suspected militant was detained when he was trying to pick up the IED from the hiding in order to attack the law enforcement bodies and the authorities of Dagestan, the NAC reported. According to the law enforcement bodies, since August 2019, the young man has been a supporter of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court. The NAC released a video of his detention, and users of social networks suggested that the young man could be provoked by the law enforcers themselves.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 23, 2019 at 11:36 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.