CTO in Dagestan triggers conflicting assessments

The version about belonging of the militants killed in the dwelling settlement of Semender in Makhachkala to the “Islamic State” (IS)* is questionable, while the counterterrorist operation (CTO) was not duly planned, veterans of law enforcement bodies assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on March 5, a CTO regime was introduced in Semender. In a shootout, law enforcers killed four men. The Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) has stated that the casualties were militants of the IS*.

Magomed Shamilov, the chairman of the independent trade union of employees of interior bodies and the prosecutor's office, is sceptical about their belonging to a terrorist organization.

"This happens when someone really needs it. Perhaps for the rating, perhaps in order to show some results ... They prefer to present no information about the casualties to the public. Hence the great doubt arises," he has stated.

However, if we assume that the casualties were indeed IS* supporters, then the law enforcers acted unprofessionally, Mr Shamilov is sure.

"Law enforcers claim that they have operative information, so use it to detain them, not to kill them. If they are militants, then they will be of more use if they are detained and tell everything they know. Otherwise, we see some sort of public executions that give no effect," he has emphasized.

Colonel Amir Kolov from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) also doubts that the casualties were IS* supporters.

"There is no underground as such there. There are bandits who profit from robberies and extortions; and they are presented as underground militants to show the work of the Dagestani Antiterrorist Committee," Mr Kolov has noted, adding the fight on terrorism presupposes the development of operations to detain or eliminate them; and in this case, this is not observed.

Vasily Dandykin, a military expert, on the contrary, treats law enforcers’ actions as a manifestation of professionalism. In his opinion, periodic incidents indicate that the IS* retains a small base of supporters who can join the ranks of terrorists.

*On December 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL or IS) as a terrorist international organization and banned its activities in Russia.