05 March 2010, 23:00
Sappers to blow up mine-studded houses in the venue of special operation in Ingushetia
Two private houses in the special operation zone in Ekazhevo village, Nazran District of Ingushetia, had been mined with non-extractable mines, as reported by a source in power agencies. According to his story, these buildings will be blown up by sappers. The body of supposed Said Buryatskiy, found after examination of the operation venue, was already delivered to the Centre of Forensic-Medical Examination of the Ministry of Defence in Rostov-on-Don, where the genetic examination will be held to identify the casualty.
Let us remind you that as a result of the special operation on March 2-3, according to the latest information of power agents, 6 militants were liquidated in total. 15 persons were detained. As it became clear later, five of them were active employees of the Ingush militia. Four detainees were convoyed by the ICPO of Russia to Moscow where they are checked for involvement in blowing up the "Neva-Express" train in August 2009. On preliminary data, notorious militant Alexander Tikhomirov was among the casualties, also known as Said Buryatskiy and Sheikh Said Abu Saad.
As reported by the "Interfax" with reference to law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia, today in the afternoon in the course of examining the place of the armed clash, several mines were detected in the two households, where militants were hiding.
"De-mining proved to be dangerous, and it was decided to blow them up," said the source.
People living in the radius of several hundreds meters around are evacuated. According to the source, houses were mined in such a manner as to strike as many people as possible. "The fact that the mines are non-extractable indicates that the explosion was to be triggered in any case; and the militants hardly ever thought about the safety of peaceful residents," the GTRK "Stavropolye" quoted the source as saying.
The "Echo Moskvy" Radio reports that the body supposedly of Said Buryatskiy was already delivered to the Centre of Forensic-Medical Examination of the Ministry of Defence in Rostov-on-Don, where the genetic examination will be held to identify the casualty's person. The body was seriously damaged; and Tikhomirov could not be identified, but documents to his name were found on the body.
Let us note here that two local residents, detained on March 2, are already at large, as stated in the message of the HRC "Memorial" that arrived to the office of the "Caucasian Knot". Employees of the human rights organization visited Ekazhevo on March 3; they mark that the majority of detainees were young men under 30.
Human rights activists assert that the special operation in Ekazhevo was not over on March 2, but continued at least till the evening of March 3. However, as the HRC "Memorial" reports, so far, there is no reliable data on the count of casualties and victims among peaceful residents.
Human rights activists could not get to the battleground: all the entrances were blocked by power agents; investigatory groups were studying the ruins of the houses; and in the Kartoeva Street shooting was still heard. According to the militiamen who stood in the cordon, the fight was still on.
Local residents said that power agents were shelling the house of the Kartoevs. They confirmed that on March 2 in that street Kartoev brothers - Tukhan, Nazir and Magomed - were shot dead. Their relatives killed and other villagers said that the brothers did not render any armed resistance.
As became known to power agents, the militants liquidated in Ekazhevo, and presumably Tikhomirov among them, had planned large-scale terror acts in Northern Caucasus with the use of terrorists-suicide bombers.
As reported by a high-ranking source from power agencies of the North-Caucasian Federal District, Russian power agents possess a video showing Said Buryatskiy several minutes prior to his liquidation by special troops of the FSB.
"The video was made by a mobile phone camera of one of killed militants. Tikhomirov reads his last sermon and says goodbye to his colleagues. It all happened in one of the rooms of the house in Ekazhevo, which by that moment had been completely blocked by special troops of the FSB," said the source.
President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov believes in Said Buryatskiy's involvement in the acts of terrorism; he said that "all the people damn the terrorist, his patrons and his relatives." Today he made a statement, in which, as the "Interfax" reports, named Said Buryatskiy an employees of western special services.
"After fixing the proofs and the end of examinations, according to the Russian legislation, Tikhomirov's body will not be given out to his relatives, but will be buried in an anonymous tomb," the high-ranking source in the NCFD said, as the "NEWSru.com" writes.