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Deadly violence persists in Russia's Caucasus
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-31 22:39
MAKHACHKALA, Russia: Police in Russia claimed Monday that security forces killed a foreign mercenary who was an emissary of al-Qaida in the Dagestan province. The foreigner was one of two militants killed in a raid late Sunday on a home in the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt, near the border with Chechnya, provincial Interior Ministry spokesman Mark Tolchinsky said Monday.
Russian authorities say a number of Arabs have fought alongside insurgents in Chechnya and neighboring provinces of the North Caucasus, in some cases leading militant groups. Tolchinsky said the alleged mercenary represented al-Qaida, acted as a conduit for foreign financing for militants in Dagestan and helped bring fighters into Russia via neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan. Dagestan and other provinces in the North Caucasus are plagued by violence, and recent months have brought an upsurge in militant attacks, in many cases targeting law enforcement authorities. An officer with an elite police unit was shot dead on the doorstep of his home in Dagestan's capital Makhachkala early Monday, Tolchinsky said. He said the attacker knocked on the door and then shot the officer several times before fleeing the scene. In Kabardino-Balkaria, a province west of Chechnya and Dagestan, police said seven residents were detained over the weekend on suspicion of militant activity. Government critics say harsh police methods aggravates tension and spawns more violence in the North Caucasus, a string of provinces along Russia's southern border. |
