Three Ingush residents held on suspicion of abetting perpetrators of road patrol post attack
MAGAS. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Law-enforcement officers in Ingushetia have detained several men suspected of involvement in an armed attack on a road patrol station in the Ingush village of Yandare, a source in regional law-enforcement agencies told Interfax on Thursday.
"After the attack on the road patrol station, a whole host of searches and inquiries were launched across the republic, which led to the apprehension of three young men who may have had links to the militant attackers," the source said.
The suspects are now being questioned and their affiliation with militants being verified, he said. One of them, named Khamkhoyev, from Yandare, was released following the checks.
It was reported that at around 5:40 p.m. on November 5 two local residents fired multiple shots at on-duty police officers at the Volga 17 road patrol post on the Kavkaz federal highway near Yandare village.
During the ensuing skirmish, two militants were killed and five officers wounded. A road patrol inspector was killed. One of the victims is in critical condition in intensive care, the other four are said to be stable, according to police doctors.
Investigators in Ingushetia have launched a criminal inquiry into "an attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer" and "illicit arms trafficking by a group of conspiring individuals."
One of the militants has been identified as Magomed Murzabekov, a resident of Ingushetia. The suicide bomber, who blew himself up at the station, has been named as Islam Kushtov, 21, of Karabulak, Ingushetia.