NORTH OSSETIAN “JAMAAT” TAKES CLAIM FOR ATTACKS

A representative of the “Jamaat Kataib al Khoul” in North Ossetia on April 13 claimed responsibility for an armed robbery in Vladikavkaz the previous day, during which a policeman was shot to death. RIA Novosti reported on April 12 that the incident took place at the children’s ward of the republic’s clinical hospital, where a car had arrived to deliver cash to pay the salaries of hospital employees. A law enforcement source told the news agency that the robbers shot and killed the policeman and wounded the driver of the car that was delivering the money, and then made off with 3,710,000 rubles (around $135,000). In an item posted on the separatist Kavkazcenter website, the “Jamaat Kataib al-Khoul” representative said the policeman and driver were shot for “trying to offer armed resistance” and that the stolen money would go toward “equipping mujahideen of the armed jamaat of Ossetia.”

In an item published by Kavkazcenter on April 10, the “Jamaat Kataib al-Khoul”claimed it had carried out a “special operation” against drug dealers in North Ossetia’s Pigorodny district the previous day. The group said the drug dealers included both Ossetians and Ingush who bought and sold narcotics in both North Ossetia and Ingushetia. The goup reported that the drug dealers were subjected to “physical punishment” that was filmed on video and that they were warned they would be executed if caught dealing drugs again. The narcotics seized from the dealers were burned, the jamaat stated.