Four militants killed in Dagestan's Khasavyurt - NAC
MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - Russian security forces have eliminated four militants in the suburb of the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAC) said on Friday.
"The bandits besieged in the house refused to give up or surrender to the authorities and tried to break through the siege. During the ensuing skirmishes the four members of an illegal armed group were neutralized," the statement said.
Two of them have been tentatively identified as active members of an Khasavyurt-based gang: Majored Gamzuyev, born 1988, and Abakar Bolatkhanov, born 1987. Firearms and ammunition have been recovered at the scene, the NAC said.
The militants were found as a result of targeted checks aimed at detecting active members of the insurgency in the village of Aerodrom of the town of Khasavyurt. "Law enforcement officers came under fire coming from a property in Kotovsky Street. One police officer sustained a gunshot wound," the NAC said.
An inspection of the area around the house led to the discovery of a white Lada Priora vehicle owned by the slain militants. According to the NAC spokesperson, a few days ago a car driven by a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer came under fire from this vehicle, as a result of which the officer was wounded and a passenger, who was traveling with him, sustained fatal injuries.
"According to the NAC operational headquarters, the neutralized group of bandits was involved in multiple killings of law enforcement officers and extortions of large sums of money from business people," the NAC said.
Also, a large cache containing weapons and a large quantity of ammunition was found in a nearby mosque.
A law enforcement source told Interfax earlier about a special operation in Khasavyurt which had resulted in the elimination of four militants.