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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Special operation launched in Starye Otagi |
| 2005-02-15 |
| The special operation to wipe out terrorists in the area of the Chechen village of Starye Otagi is being continued. Special-purpose army units are now mopping up the foothill fields, where the bandits had fled, Colonel Vasily Panchenko, head of the Press Service of the Russia Interior Troops, told Itar-Tass on Monday. He said the operation to liquidate the 15-20-man gang, which planned to attack a unit of the United Group of Troops in this inhabited locality, "was promptly mapped out by the group's command after it was tipped off that the bandits were planning the attack. Other units, in addition to the interior troops, also took part in the operation. "Six bandits were killed in the course of the night-time clash, and others were dispersed in the area of Starye Otagi. "There were no losses among the federal troops," the colonel noted. Spokesman for the Regional Operations HQ of the Counter-Terrorism Action in the Northern Caucasus Major-General Ilya Shabalkin told Itar-Tass that one of the killed bandits, judging by the features of his face, was an Arab mercenary. According to preliminary reports, the bandits were subordinated to Rizvan Chitigov and Yunadi Yunusov. The former is active in the Shali District of Chechnya, and the latter — in Grozny. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |