Soldiers, Rebels Killed in Khasavyurt Shootouts

A large improvised explosive device was discovered on the Khasavyurt-Babayurt road on the outskirts of the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt, Newsru.com reported on June 12. The device, which was defused by bomb disposal experts, consisted of ammonium nitrate that would have exploded with the force of five kilograms of TNT, along with metal bolts and nuts that would have acted as shrapnel and a remote control device fashioned out of a car alarm. A police source was quoted as saying that the Khasavyurt-Babayurt road was clearly targeted because it is heavily traveled.

A soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack that took place at a railway terminal in Khasavyurt overnight on June 8-9, RIA Novosti reported. “Unknown gunmen, most likely in a Zhiguli car without a license plate, fired automatic weapons at a group of soldiers who were due to board a troop train from Chechnya,” a police source told the news agency. “One soldier, 21, was killed, another, 22, was taken to a local hospital with serious wounds.” The source said the attackers had not been “traced.”

On June 7, Russian special forces killed three rebel fighters during a special operation in Khasavyurt. Reuters quoted Interfax as saying that there were no Russian deaths in the operation, which lasted around 40 minutes and involved armored personnel carriers.