Russian forces kill 6 militants in restive Dagestan
At least six militants have been killed when Russian law enforcement forces carried out separate counter terrorism operations in the troubled North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.
A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two police officers were killed and another four injured on Friday when a militant opened fire on security personnel in a forest in the Tabasaran district.
The assailant was killed in the ensuing clashes. Reinforcement forces have been dispatched to the area to secure it.
The source added that two more officers of special operations units were killed during other offensives in Dagestan.
Six servicemen also suffered injuries in the latest skirmishes, and are currently receiving treatment in hospital.
Violence first broke out in Chechnya in 1994, when 250,000 people were forced to flee to neighboring territories because of a war between Chechen separatists and the Russian army.
After a short-lived period of relative peace from 1996 to 1999, war resumed following attacks blamed on Chechen militant groups.
In April 2015, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said a North Caucasus militant group, known as the “Imarat Kavkaz,” had allied itself with the Daesh Takfiri terrorist outfit.
Earlier this year, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced that Daesh terror cells led by Chechen recruiter Akhmed Chetayev were planning terrorist attacks in Russia and Europe, noting that former Iraqi army officers from the deposed Ba'ath regime are taking part in training terrorists to attack Russia.
“Russian special services have intelligence that certain Daesh groups are preparing terrorist attacks in Russia and European nations,” Andrey Przhezdomsky, the committee's spokesman warned.
“In particular, a battalion formed mainly from recruits from North Caucasus headed by Akhmed Chetayev, nicknamed One-Handed,” Przhezdomsky noted.
He went on to say Russian border guards and special services are doing their best to stem the flow of terrorists to and from Syria through Turkey.
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