The American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus

ACPC Weekly News UPDATE
April 12, 2010 – April 19, 2010

At least six servicemen killed as authorities step up fight against North Caucasus militants, Safety concerns rise leading up to Sochi Olympics
Following President Medvedev’s pledge to punish the militants behind the deadly double-suicide attack in the Moscow subway on March 29, the federal security services launched numerous special operations targeting militants thought to be connected to the Moscow bombings and other attacks in the region. Dagestan, the region’s largest and most ethnically-diverse republic, has been the focus of attention ever since investigators established the identity of the two female suicide bombers that killed 40 people in Moscow’s busy subway system. Both of the bombers were Dagestani residents and had been married to high ranking militant commanders, according to the authorities.

On April 11, the security services launched a large scale operation in the Dagestani city of Gubden against a group of 40 militants under the command of Magomedali Vagabov, the reported widower of the Lubyanka metro station suicide bomber. After heavy artillery fire and aerial bombardment, authorities reported that at least two militants and three security servicemen were killed during the operation. Two additional militants were reported killed in another operation on April 15 in the eastern village of Kara-Tyube.

In Chechnya, three Russian soldiers were killed on April 15 in the mountainous terrain in the south. The soldiers were on a reconnaissance patrol when two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) detonated. The unit’s commander was among those killed by the explosions.

Chechnya has witnessed a sharp surge in violence, including the revived tactic of suicide bombings by the militants, since the Kremlin’s decision last April to lift the nearly decade-long Counter-Terrorist Regime (CTO). The decision to lift the security regime, as many experts suggested at the time, was an attempt by both the federal and Chechen authorities to portray Chechnya as peaceful and prospering, despite the ongoing low-intensity conflict and reports of continuing human rights violations. But violence has also spread to Chechnya’s neighboring republics where authorities are struggling to contain a low-level insurgency.

According to data compiled by ACPC, in 2009 116 servicemen were killed and 526 wounded from militant attacks in Ingushetia, 136% and 273% respective increases compared to 2008 data. In Dagestan 86 servicemen were killed and 125 were wounded in 2009, 59% and 50% respective increases.

The sharp rise in violence coupled with the latest spate of suicide bombings have heightened security concerns leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, prompting President Medvedev to create an interagency cross-regional task-force to combat terrorism the North Caucasus. The task force will comprise of officials from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ministry of the Interior and the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Sochi is less than 200 miles away from the violence-stricken republics of Ingushetia, Dagestan and Chechnya.