ECHO OF EVENTS

No. 14 (1039) 24.02—27.02.2005

The prevention of a series of major terrorist acts and the neutralization of a group of terrorists who were under the direct command of Chechen separatist leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev, the liquidation of an underground laboratory for the manufacture of explosive devices — such are the official results of a joint operation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB of Russia in two neighboring republics of the North Caucasus: Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia.

No Longer Living

Storming of apartments in Nalchik and Karachaevsk: results of the special operation

It is now obvious that the siege and storming of apartment No. 15 in house 19a on Shogentsukov Avenue in Nalchik and the storming of house No. 56 on Lenin Street in Karachaevsk are links in a special operation aimed at neutralizing members of one group controlled by natives of Karachay-Cherkessia. True, it is still unclear who and how many were arrested or liquidated. Law enforcement structures hint that this is a special tactic: exact details are not disclosed because part of the group remains at large, and information could help them in further coordination of actions.

The chronicle of events of the past week looked as follows:

• Evening of February 18 — a short siege of a private house on Dobrolyubov Street in Nalchik. As a result, two women and a man surrender without resistance (according to the KBR prosecutor's office); five members of illegal armed groups (according to the statement of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Arkady Edelev); two women with children and a man (according to information from 'Novaya' sources). Coincidence (?) known among all those voiced during the recent events in Nalchik. However, there is still no information that the body of Aslan Temirbulatov is among the liquidated militants. After the storming of apartment No. 15, the security forces held a press conference.
  • Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Arkady Ede

lev: 'Three bodies were found at the site of the storming, identities have been established. All of them were on the federal wanted list for committing terrorist acts in the Rostov region and the Stavropol Territory.'
* KBR Prosecutor Yuri Ketov: 'The identity of one of the militants was found in the apartment, then references to fake documents found after the storming look insufficiently convincing. From various sources, the following names of the killed extremists were voiced: Aslan Temirbulatov, Ali Kubanov — residents of Karachaevsk, a native of Chechnya Igor Lukanin, a resident of Volgodonsk Viktor Senchenko. Who was actually in house No. 19a on Shogentsukov Avenue is not specified.

• On the day of the storming in Nalchik, February 20, in Karachaevsk (KChR) at nine in the evening in house No. 56 on Lenin Street, machine-gun fire was also heard. This operation turned out to be even more classified than the Kabardino-Balkarian one. Eyewitnesses say that after a short but intense shootout, a long lull ensued.
  • Residents of the house saw how from the entrance where the [apartment] was...

[Sidebar text:]
jamaat.' Islamists converted a billiard room in Karachaevsk into a mosque and named it 'Mezhgid.' Murat (Achimez) Gochiyayev became the leader of the new jamaat. According to intelligence services, he is an assistant to Khattab and the organizer of most terrorist acts in Russia.

It is believed that Gochiyayev formed a mobile group of recruiters from active members of the jamaat. Most of those whose names were originally mentioned in connection with the 1999 bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk have been killed. Two, Yusuf Krymshamkhalov and Adam Dekkushev, are serving life sentences. And the list continues to grow. After the events in Nalchik, if the leadership of the operation headquarters is to be believed, eight more should be added to the original list of organizers and perpetrators.

According to information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the KChR, 'Muslim socie-'

Arrests and Terrorist Activity in the North Caucasus

• Three individuals were arrested: natives of Karachaevsk, Islam Kochkarov, and Amina Dautova.
• The third prisoner is the widow of Nikolai Kipkeev, who died along with a female suicide bomber on August 31, 2004, during the explosion near the Rizhskaya metro station in Moscow.

Discovery of Terrorist Arsenal

• Fuad Shurdumov, head of the UBOP (Directorate for Combating Organized Crime) of the KBR (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic), reported that a terrorist arsenal was found in the garage rented by Islam Kochkarov.
• The arsenal included:
  • An AK-74 assault rifle with two full magazines.
  • A MON-90 mine.
  • Two kilograms of TNT.
  • 59 detonators.
  • Various components for explosive devices.
  • Detailed maps of Kabardino-Balkaria and the Stavropol Territory.

Siege in Nalchik

• Shortly after the arrest on Dobrolyubov Street, a siege followed on Shogentsukov Avenue in Nalchik.
• The siege lasted from midnight on February 19 until noon on February 20.
• During the night, information surfaced that the father of Aslan Temirbulatov had been brought from Karachay-Cherkessia to negotiate with the barricaded militants.
• It was concluded that the father was in the besieged apartment.

Aslan Temirbulatov

• Aslan Temirbulatov is known as the closest assistant to Achimez Gochiyayev.
• His duties included:
  • Recruiting suicide bombers to carry out terrorist acts.
  • Preparing terrorist attacks.
• Temirbulatov was identified after the failure of a terrorist attack in North Ossetia, when Nikolai Epryntsev, a student from Karachaevsk, was sent to blow up a market in Vladikavkaz.
• The standard price for the "service" was 200 dollars.

Conflicting Reports

• The text notes that there were not three, but two corpses. Identities can only be established after a special forensic examination.
• Documents found on the deceased may be forged.
• The data from the two high-ranking officials does not coincide.
• The inconsistency in information may be due to the reluctance to publicize the name of one person, about whom a source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the KBR informed a "Novaya" correspondent long before the end of the special operation.
• According to this source, one of the "mujahideen" is a former officer of the Russian special services, an honor student in combat and political training.
• This indirectly refutes Ketov's information: if shooting was established before the end of the assault, the police led some people out and took them away in cars.
• Late in the evening, all residents were evacuated.
• At two o'clock in the morning, eyewitnesses reported hearing machine-gun fire again in the area of the house.
• At eight o'clock in the morning on February 21, residents were allowed to return to their apartments.
• Reports were sparse:
  • A joint operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB was carried out.
  • An active Wahhabi was liquidated, but the name was not reported.
  • Information about the detention of other persons during the operation is neither confirmed nor denied.

Religious and Militant Groups

• In the fall of 1996, the Ministry of Justice of the KChR (Karachay-Cherkess Republic) registered "Muslim Society No. 3," which subsequently became known as the "Karachay [Jamaat]" thanks to the press.
• [Society No. 3] did not cease to exist after the leader went underground.
• Achimez Gochiyayev left lieutenants in Karachay-Cherkessia.
• These lieutenants are actively recruiting young people for Chechen militant detachments.
• Recruits allegedly undergo training on the high-mountain Biychesyn plateau.
• Law enforcement agencies of the KBR report that the Karachay extremists in Nalchik had accomplices.
• To check all suspects in the republic, mass detentions and interrogations of suspicious persons from among the Muslim youth are being carried out.

Fatima TLISOVA,
our special correspondent
Karachaevsk — Nalchik