The situation in republics of the North Caucasus moved to the forefront against the background of the events in South Ossetia. The latest reports show that this situation remains difficult and explosive. Here are some facts that characterize athe ctiveness of militants and terrorists. Journalist Telman Alishaev who struggled against wahhabism actively was killed in Dagestan. A car of the journalist of Islamic television company TV-Chirkei was attacked around 8 pm on September 2 in the Separatorny settlement in an outskirt of Makhachkala. Confirming the version about the involvement of wahhabis in the murder, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported with reference to a source in the law-enforcement agencies that Telman Alishaev was one of the authors of the documentary “Ordinary wahhabism” and an active opponent of this movement in Dagestan.
An automobile filled with explosives crashed into the base of special battalion South in district center Vedeno in Chechnya on August 29. The automobile was steered by a kamikaze. One serviceman was killed and 11 were wounded as a result of the explosion. Kavkazsky Uzel website pointed out that after the beginning of spring, the armed underground grew much more active in Chechnya. The activeness of the militants is much bigger now than in the last two or three years. Groups consisting of up to a few tens of militants took populated spots (Alkhazurovo and Benoi-Vedeno) in Chechnya twice, they performed a number of attacks at the military and policemen and got engaged into fighting with units of the federal forces and local law-enforcement agencies frequently.
Two policemen were killed in Kabardino-Balkaria on September 2. Earlier, on August 27, one serviceman of the Interior Forces died and two were wounded during a clash with members of illegal armed forces in Belaya Rechka settlement, outskirt of Nalchik. A police car was attacked at 3:20 pm on August 30 near border populated spot Verkhny Baksan of the Elbrus District of Kabardino-Balkaria.
News about the murders of servicemen of security agencies come from Ingushetia almost daily. Thus, five policemen from the Khabarovsk Territory were wounded on September 1 when they guarded a checkpoint I Ingushetia. Fifteen servicemen of Interior Forces and eight policemen from Khabarovsk served at the checkpoint. Unknown people attacked the checkpoint from under-barrel grenade launcher and small arms. After the incident the policemen from Khabarovsk were delivered to a hospital of Vladikavkaz. A similar incident happened in Ingushetia on September 1 in Achaluki. Unknown people attacked a stationary police post there. Two policemen died on the spot and one was wounded and hospitalized.
Thus, the situation in the North Caucasus reminds situation on the brink of a war. Why?
Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports that according to Interior Minister of Chechnya, Ruslan Alkhanov, the overall aggravation of the situation in some republics of the North Caucasus is connected with reception of a new financial “installment” by leaders of the militants from unknown sponsors from the Arab countries. Sulim Yamadaev, commander of battalion East based in Chechnya and Hero of Russia (it was reported that he was dismissed but Yamadaev did not confirm this information) sticks to a similar opinion. According to Yamadaev, the flow of the youth to wahhabis in the mountain areas continues in Chechnya.
Recently, Yamadaev said, “there is information that 20 girls at the age from 15 to 20 years old went to forests in Chechnya. We have this problem. The flow continues. We have information about who goes to the mountains. There are people from Saudi Arabia in the jamaats that fight in Chechnya. We know who feeds them. Whereas formerly their forces were reduced, this year they received many people. The quantity of clashes has grown too and there are losses. Jamaats grew more active in Dagestan and Ingushetia.”
Dagestani officials spoke about the activeness of wahhabis recently too. A meeting of the antiterrorist commission of the republic on July 23 was dedicated to this problem. According to some mass media, at the meeting head of the division of the Federal Security Service for Dagestan Vyacheslav Shanshin confessed in public that authorities were losing the ideological war to the wahhabi bandit underground.
