FOUR SERVICEPERSONS KILLED IN INGUSHETIA

Four servicepersons were killed in the outskirts of Nazran, Ingushetia, on October 26 when unknown gunmen fired on their car with automatic weapons and grenade launchers, RIA Novosti reported. A source in the press service of the republic’s Interior Ministry said three officers, including a captain, major, and private first class, died in the attack. Two of the victims – the private and a senior lieutenant – were women, the source said. October 10, Kavkazky Uzel quoted an Ingushetian law enforcement source as saying that more than 20 attacks targeting the staff of local and federal power structures had been carried out during the two-month period from August 15 to October 20. According to the source, six officers were killed and 11 were wounded in the attacks. Another official source told the website that the reason for the “sharp increase” in the number of attacks was that rebel forces were attempting to demonstrate their effectiveness after a series of successful operations against their leaders.

Yet Ingushetian opposition leader Musa Ozdoev blamed the increase in attacks on the actions of the siloviki. “This is all the result of the incompetent policy of the leadership of the republic and the lawlessness on the part of the siloviki in relation to the civilian population,” he told Kavkazky Uzel. “I have tried to explain that this must not be done, have drawn attention to instances of kidnapping of citizens [and] the kind of torture they’re subject to after being detained. I tried to express this using legal methods, through peaceful acts of protest, but they did not want to listen to me. Now we are reaping the fruits of this policy.”