On May 15-21, 2017, seven persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

During the week of May 15-21, 2017, seven persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, six were killed, and one person was wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The death toll includes four suspected members of the armed underground in Dagestan and two law enforcers in Chechnya.

Attacks on law enforcers

In the evening of May 18, in the village of Karamakhi in the Buynaksk District of Dagestan, within the counterterrorist operation (CTO) carried out in the Buynaksk District since April 20, law enforcers encountered suspected militants. The house where the armed people stayed was cordoned off. When offered to surrender, the armed people opened fire, and all four of them were killed by return fire of the special forces of Russia's FSB. One of the suspects killed in the armed clash was identified as Nasu Ataev, the 40-year-old leader of the "Kadar" militant grouping. Three of his subordinates were killed together with him, including Jafar Magomedov, Ibragim Nasuev, and Ibragim Djakhbarov. In the house, law enforcers discovered weapons, ammunition, and a bomb with power of ten kilograms in TNT equivalent.

Bombings and terror acts

On May 17, a resident of Stavropol was searching for historical artefacts in a forest and found a metal barrel with five TNT blocks with total weight of one kilogram. An unidentified device in the form of a firecracker with a fire cord was attached to the items. Policemen and a specialist of the engineering unit of the OMON (riot police) Department for the StavropolTerritory of the National Guard of Russia arrived at the scene. Ammunitions have been defused and directed for examination.

On May 18, in a forest belt not far from the village of Tsanatli of the Gumbetov District of Dagestan, law enforcers found an improvised explosive device (IED) in the form of a 50-litter plastic barrel filled with an explosive mixture and buried to the ground. The bomb's power was 40 kilograms in TNT equivalent. It belonged to M. Taimudarov, the leader of the "Makhachkala" militant grouping. The IED was destroyed at the place. During its destruction, none of the law enforcers was injured.

On May 18, when combat engineers were engaged in mine clearance in the Shatoi District of Chechnya, ammunition discovered by them detonated. As a result, the explosion killed the Lieutenant, who commanded the combat engineering unit, and a contract soldier. Another contract soldier was wounded and promptly brought to the military hospital. At present, he receives all the necessary medical assistance. The wounded soldier stays in the hospital with multiple injuries. The victim of the explosion is still in severe condition.

Detentions

On May 15, in the territory of an abandoned factory in Vladikavkaz, policemen detained a resident of North Ossetia while he was selling a submachine gun. In April, the law enforcement agencies got the information about the suspect, and the 27-year-old local resident was watched. When the suspect arranged a new deal to sell a submachine gun, he was detained by policemen.

Kidnappings

On May 18, inMakhachkala, Arsen Akhmedov, born in 1991, went to get a foreign passport. Last time, the young man was seen near the city beach at about 2:40 p.m. Moscow time. The Arsen Akhmedov's parents learned about the kidnapping of their son from a man who witnessed the incident. According to the witness, two black Lada Priora cars drove up to the young man, the people came out of them, captured Arsen Akhmedov and forced him into a car. One of the kidnappers took the car of the kidnapped young man (the white Toyota Camry car), and after that all people left the place for some unknown destination. At the very moment of the kidnapping, Arsen Akhmedov was talking via the mobile phone with his cousin, and the latter heard the Arsen's phrase: "What are you doing?!" The relatives of the kidnapped young man unsuccessfully searched for him at police stations of Makhachkala, and after that they filed a complaint about the kidnapping to the Kirov ROVD (District Interior Division). According to Abdulbasyr Akhmedov, the father of the disappeared young man, law enforcers never had any complaints against Arsen Akhmedov.