Home


Ingushetia: High-profile murders roil volatile republic

Militants killed two high-ranking officials this week demonstrating the degree to which security has deteriorated in Ingushetia. On Wednesday, gunmen killed Aza Gazgireeva, Deputy Chief Justice of Ingushetia’s Supreme Court, on her way to work in Nazran. Authorities stated that the assassination was related to Gazgireeva’s profession and announced the identities of the suspected gunmen. It was the second high-ranking judge to be killed in one month. Two days after Gazgireeva’s murder, Bashir Aushev, vice premier under former president, Murat Zyazikov, was gunned down as he got out of an automobile to enter his house. Mr. Aushev was responsible for relations with law enforcement agencies, but had not worked for the government since resigning at the time of Zyazikov’s departure.

Current president Yunus-Bek Yevkurov condemned the murders stating that “tough targeted measures will be implemented,” but it was unclear how effective such measures would be given that ongoing joint Chechen-Ingush special operations to flush out the militants have failed to curtail violence in the republic. Suspected militants also set a municipal administration building on fire in Nazran and attacked a police vehicle injuring two officers.

Ingushetia remained relatively stable during the Chechan wars but security began to quickly deteriorate as former president Zyazikov’s heavy handed approach to a rising insurgency resulted in widespread civilian abuse and abductions by authorities. The current president, who enjoys wide support from the public, has been unable to curtail escalating violence and produce significant security improvements, but has opened up dialogue with local human rights organizations as well as condemned heavy handed tactics by authorities.

 

Related Articles:

Dagestan: Medvedev’s visit demonstrates Kremlin’s concern about rising violence

President Medvedev made an unannounced visit to Dagestan and held a meeting with the Dagestan Security Council just days after the republic’s top law enforcement official was gunned down by a sniper. Adopting tough rhetoric reminiscent of his predecessor Vladimir Putin, Medvedev blamed the escalating violence in the area on “freaks” and “terrorist scum” and vowed to defeat them adding that the murder of Adilgerei Magomedtagirov was “a gauntlet thrown down to the authorities.” Medvedev’s visit demonstrated the degree to which security in the region has deteriorated and Kremlin’s concern about a rising insurgency and extremism.

Dagestan, the North Caucasus’s largest republic, has become a flashpoint of regional violence where militants carry out daily attacks on authorities. Just hours after Medvedev’s departure, militants carried out simultaneous attacks killing a traffic police officer and attacking a local interior ministry building.

 

 

Related Articles:

 

 

For complete daily news updates and other information, please visit http://www.peaceinthecaucasus.org/.
To subscribe to weekly ACPC updates, visit http://www.peaceinthecaucasus.org/mailing.php
To unsubscribe from the list, send an email to listserv@listserv.fhlists.org with the text ‘signoff acpc’ in the message body