| They continue to shoot militants in Nalchik In Nalchik yesterday, security forces carried out another sweep of residential areas and surrounding areas in search of participants who participated in the attack on the city on October 13. At about 5 a.m., in the southwestern part of the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, unknown persons fired at a traffic police patrol. In response, the police opened fire and killed one man. Two of his accomplices managed to escape. In the hands of the killed bandit was a machine gun, which, as experts found out, was from the arsenal of the Federal Drug Control Service (UFSKN) of the KBR that was looted in December last year.
After this, the operatives cordoned off the area of the collision, conducted a door-to-door search of nearby houses, and also inspected basements and attics. At noon, Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel announced that several more people who took part in the attack on Nalchik had been detained. True, the Deputy Prosecutor General did not specify the number of detainees, whether they fired at the police, or whether they were militants at all. “We carefully check who can be a militant and who cannot. Therefore, the prosecutor’s office is in no hurry to draw conclusions,” Mr. Shepel noted.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic, at 4.50 in the morning on Nagornaya Street in the Iskozhi area (in the same area there is Department of Internal Affairs No. 3 - the only “security” facility that the militants managed to capture on October 13), a traffic police patrol noticed three men walking towards the store "Orbit". After the attack, a curfew was not imposed in Nalchik, so as not to further aggravate the situation, since, as is customary during the Muslim fast, many local residents continue to attend mosques in the morning. That is why the police did not immediately shoot, but asked early passers-by to stop and present their documents. However, instead of getting their passports, the unknown people grabbed machine guns from their bosoms and, shooting at the policemen, tried to hide in the nearest yard. Two of them succeeded, but the police killed one with return fire. After examining the body, investigators found a machine gun and a pistol. Upon inspection, it turned out that the Kalashnikov assault rifle was stolen in December last year during an attack on the State Drug Control Agency of the KBR. By the way, these are not the first guns from the Federal Drug Control Service found in the hands of militants after the recent attack on the city. According to local intelligence services, after comparing the numbers, experts identified two more machine guns and one PM from the drug police's weapons room.
The morning clash prompted another thorough cleanup in the city. The Iskozh area was completely blocked by riot police, and by 7 a.m. armored personnel carriers arrived in case the militants holed up somewhere began to break out in battle. Residents of the houses were advised not to go outside. Classes were canceled at a nearby school and two kindergartens were closed. The police checked not only apartments, but also basements, attics, dachas, and paid special attention to garage cooperatives. It was there that the militants “loved” to hide during previous clashes in Nalchik. As the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs stated, “the city is divided into squares, and measures are now being taken to identify possible remaining militants and their accomplices.” The KBR prosecutor's office, for its part, appealed to the residents of the republic with a request to treat the ongoing events with understanding, not to leave their homes without documents and present them to law enforcement officers upon request, and, if necessary, provide them with personal vehicles. The population was also asked to assist the investigative team of the Prosecutor General's Office, which is investigating the attack on Nalchik, by providing photographs and videos, including from mobile phones, taken by eyewitnesses, and by handing over weapons collected during the fighting in the city.
Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel noted that the raid was successful and another group of militants was detained. But neither the local intelligence services nor the prosecutor’s office could comment on this statement yesterday. Only the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic reported that all detainees were taken to the Department for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also clarified that the identities of 56 participants in the attack on Nalchik out of 85 killed during the special operation have already been established. Yesterday, two more bodies were received - one militant died in the hospital, the other was killed in the morning during detention.
Data on the participants and victims of the attack continues to be clarified. According to new information from the KBR prosecutor's office, during a special operation in Nalchik on October 13, 35 police officers and nine civilians were killed. The list of killed militants already includes 92 people, and more than 40 have been detained.
The latest cleanup carried out in the city yesterday did not prevent the relatives of those killed during the attack on Nalchik from gathering for another spontaneous rally near the Kabardino-Balkaria Government House. Just like on October 17, when wives and mothers came to the republican prosecutor's office, they demanded that the bodies be given to them for burial. Speaking on local television, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic President Arsen Kanokov said that perhaps the bodies of some of the militants, “who got lost and were used as cannon fodder,” will be given to relatives so that “cruelty does not breed cruelty.” (According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the KBR, mainly local residents took part in the attack on Nalchik). The KBR prosecutor's office also reported that “those who wish to identify their relatives among the killed are given this opportunity.” However, Nikolai Shepel once again reminded: according to Russian laws, the bodies of killed militants are not given to relatives. Tatiana GRITSENKO |
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