2 Police Killed, 17 Wounded; 4 Militants Shot Dead in Counter-Terrorist Operation in Dagestan; ISIS Claims Responsibility

Gadzhiakhmed Kaziakhmedov, father of Felks Kaziakhmedov, former mayor of Derbent, murdered May 9. Police pursuing his murderers were attacked with a grenade, then in turn killed 4 militants in a gunfight in which 2 police died and 17 were wounded. Photo via Caucasian Knot

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2 Police Killed, 17 Wounded; 4 Militants Shot Dead in Counter-Terrorist Operation in Dagestan; ISIS Claims Responsibility for Attack

2016-05-15 04:25:43

For the third time this year, ISIS has declared responsibility for an attack in Dagestan, Caucasian Knot, a regional news service reported.

Yesterday May 14, while police were conducting an inspection of a large apartment building in Derbent, Dagestan, an unknown person threw a grenade and then opened fire on the police, Caucasian Knot reported.

Police blockaded an apartment, saying that inside were the murderers of Gadzhiakhmed Kaziakhmedov, 82, the father of Feliks Kaziakhmedov, former mayor of Derbent. Then they reported that 4 suspected militants had been shot dead in a gun battle in which 2 law-enforcers were also killed: Musa Musayev, head of criminal investigation for Derbent and an OMON [riot troops] soldier. At least 17 police were wounded.

Gadzhiakhmed Kaziakhmedov was murdered on May 9, Victory Day. Police do not believe that robbery was the motive because a surveillance camera that caught the assailants briefly showed them armed with pistols with silencers, which they did not think would have been used if only robbery was the motive.

Law-enforcers said the apartment were the militants had hid was burned and the body of Musayev was inside.

Caucasian Knot noted that the number of casualties for this incident exceeded any other for the first three months of the year; previously 4 police were killed and 14 wounded.

In a separate incident today, in Moscow, three men were killed and 23 people wounded in a mass brawl involving 200 people at the Khovanskoye Cemetery reportedly involving a “turf war” , RIA Novosti reported:

According to a RIA Novosti source in the administration of the cemetery, representatives of several national diasporas took part: natives of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan who work as maintenance personnel at the cemetery defended the territory and natives of Dagestan and Chechnya who wanted to “take over the territory” were the attackers. As a source noted, maintenance at such a large cemetery brings in a fairly large revenue and a conflict emerged in this regard.

— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

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