The American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus

ACPC Weekly News UPDATE
November 9, 2009 – November 15, 2009

Up to 30 alleged militants killed as violence spreads throughout the region
In another violent week in the North Caucasus, around 30 alleged militants were killed during special operations carried out by local and federal security services. In Chechnya, authorities stated that a group of twenty militants was destroyed on Friday in a town southwest of Grozny. One of the killed militants was identified as Islam Uspahodjiyev, a close associate of Doku Umarov, the self-proclaimed emir of the Caucasus Emirate. Chechen authorities also speculated about Doku Umarov being among the dead, although the Russian press met the claim with skepticism. Three more militants were killed in neighboring Ingushetia when authorities apprehended a vehicle that failed to comply with demands of police officers. Also in Ingushetia, three police officers were injured on Friday when an improvised explosive device detonated in the Department of Internal Affairs building in Nazran. In a separate incident, militants attacked a police checkpoint located on the outskirts of Arshti in Ingushetia and then detonated a roadside bomb targeting a military van carrying troops responding to the attack on the police checkpoint.

Despite increased counter-terrorist operations and rising militant casualties, militants continue to carry out regular attacks against authorities throughout the North Caucasus. On Monday, four alleged militants were killed in the republic of Karachay-Cherkessia during a shootout with security services. On the following day gunmen opened fire on a police post injuring two officers and a bystander. In 2005-2006, during a series of militant attacks on police officers in Karachay-Cherkessia, seven police officers and one FSB operative were killed. The authorities claimed that all militants on the territory of the republic were liquidated, yet a recent rise in attacks and the volatile situation in neighboring republics warrant concern due to the existing ethnic and religious tensions within the Muslim community in Karachay-Cherkessia.

In Dagestan, North Caucasus’s largest and most ethnically diverse republic, the widow, daughter and sister of a police officer who had come to visit his graveside were killed when an explosive device that was planted nearby detonated. Authorities believe that militants were behind the attack as Elena Triftonigi, the wife of a police officer killed by militants in 2008, had spoken out against the rebels on numerous occasions according to Caucasian Knot. Authorities later defused a second explosive found in the cemetery.

The North Caucasus republics continue to be plagued by extreme violence, corruption, and poverty. President Medvedev called the situation in the region the most “serious political problem of our country” during the annual Presidential address last week. However, there are no indications as to whether the Kremlin is considering changing the overall policy in the region that continues to rely on heavy handed methods in combating a rising insurgency.

Related articles:

Chechnya says helicopter attack kills 20 rebels
Reuters, November 13, 2009

Excerpt from Dmitry Medvedev’s Presidential address to the Federal Assembly on the situation in the North Caucasus
ACPC, November 12, 2009

Wife and daughter of deceased police officer killed during terrorist act
Caucasian Knot, November 13, 2009 (in Russian)

2 current, 1 past interior ministry employees wounded in Karachay-Cherkessia
Caucasian Knot, November 11, 2009 (in Russian)

Four rebels killed in Caucasus clash
Associated Press, November 8, 2009
Oleg Orlov questioned by authorities over Kadyrov libel case
Last week Oleg Orlov, the director of Human Rights Center Memorial, was called in for questioning by authorities in regards to the criminal defamation case filed against Orlov by the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov has already won a civil case against Orlov over his statements holding Kadyrov responsible for the gruesome murder of Memorial researcher Natalya Estemirova in July. If proven guilty in the criminal case, Orlov, a prominent rights activist and recipient of the European Parliament’s 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, could face up to four years in prison.