| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Caucasus Corpse Count |
| 2005-04-30 |
| Four suspected militants and a policeman have been killed in a shootout in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, police say. The shootout happened after police in Nalchik, capital of Kabardino-Balkariya region, stopped a van to check the driver's documents, officials say. Three armed men emerged from a garage and began firing, said a spokesman. The local Interior Ministry said the attackers belonged to the Islamic militant group Yarmuk. There were unconfirmed press reports that one of the dead was Yarmuk leader Rustam Bekanov. The Interior Ministry said a night police patrol had stopped the van to check documents in the early hours of Friday. As they did so, three men in a nearby garage as well as the van driver opened fire on them, spokesman for the ministry's southern Russian branch Alexei Polyansky said. One policeman was killed as well as all four attackers. Two other officers were wounded, he added. A cache of weapons and ammunition were reportedly found in pits under the garage. Yarmuk is blamed for previous attacks in this part of Russia, which has been hit in recent months by the spread of instability from Chechnya. The Russian authorities have stepped up security, but they admit Islamic militants pose a major threat, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow. The Kremlin has even warned that Russia could disintegrate if it fails to restore order in the North Caucasus, our correspondent adds. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |