Article

2005-10-19 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Gunmen are reported to have staged an assault early today targeting the houses of law enforcement personnel in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported.

Up to five attacks were reported in the village of Yandar, with the attackers firing assault rifles and grenade launchers and reportedly setting several houses on fire. No injuries were reported from these attacks.

In the nearby town of Karabulak, the brother of a police commander was reported wounded as the result of an assault on a house.

The unidentified attackers -- reported by the ITAR-TASS news agency to number up to 60 -- fled into the forest and security forces were searching for them.

Posted by Dan Darling 2005-10-19 13:29|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 60 gunmen

Is it my imagination, or are the units of Muslim attackers getting bigger in that part of the world, even as they are getting smaller in Iraq and Afghanistan? At what point does it invert, so that we call the Russian experience an insurgency, and the Iraq/Afghanistan situation banditry?

Posted by trailing wife 2005-10-19 16:17|| 2005-10-19 16:17|| Front Page Top

#2 With numbers I think Yes and No, TW. They are getting ambitious and a little more active than usual it seems in Ingushetia. The exact "who" is unclear though KavKaz will provide credit where due usually. The Chechen jihadis were quite active in staging attacks and ambushes on military targets using groupings of upward of 50 to 100 people armed with light weapons and the customary videographer years ago in Chechnya. They had quite a PR machine going. There has been precious little of that in Chechnya for years though. It may be a product of the differences in the level of police and military activity between the two regions.

Posted by MunkarKat 2005-10-19 16:47|| 2005-10-19 16:47|| Front Page Top

#3 It's also a lot cheaper than live fire training.

Posted by Elmose Unaiter1363 2005-10-19 16:51|| 2005-10-19 16:51|| Front Page Top

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