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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Caucasus Corpse Count |
| 2005-10-25 |
| Security forces have killed three suspected militants holed up an apartment building in Russia’s restive southern province of Dagestan, local media reported. Acting on a tip-off, law enforcement agents blocked the five-story building in the republic’s capital Makhachkala late Monday, said Abdul Musayev, a spokesman for the regional branch of Russia’s Interior Ministry. The militants fired at police, wounding one officer, he said. Security forces, backed by armored vehicles, then stormed the building in a 10-hour operation that ended early Tuesday. They found the bodies of three suspected militants, Musayev said. One of those killed was identified as Gadzhimagomed Ismailov whom authorities called one of the leaders of gunmen who have conducted a series of attacks on law enforcement officials in Dagestan, a Caspian Sea province that borders Chechnya to the east, Musayev said. The second suspected militant was identified as Murad Lakhiyalov, Ismailov’s aide. Police and government officials in Dagestan have been targeted in a series of bomb blasts and shootings, stoking fears that Chechnya’s instability and violence was spilling over to other predominantly Muslim Caucasus regions. Officials say more than 40 law enforcement officers have been killed in attacks in Dagestan this year alone. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |