Makhackala/Agency Caucasus – The killing of Dagestan deputy Gazimagomed Magomedov has started on December 16 the Russian occupation of the Gimri village of Untsukul province, Dagestan.
Gimri, the village where Imam Shamil was born and later grew up to eternal fame as the legendary figure of Caucasian resistance, is now under the occupation of Russian forces over the past one week. The Russian military imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, warning that getting outside after curfew would result in shooting. Some camouflaged Russian soldiers raided the local houses here, first detaining a group of 50 people and then releasing 40 of them. The detainees were accused of having guns through illegal means. A villager, however, said that allegations were fake because some security forces themselves planted gun and explosive in certain houses so that the owners of those houses could be detained. The village schools were closed down after the occupation began. The villagers already started to suffer from a shortage of food supplies. Only certain people were allowed to leave the village under the supervision of Russian soldiers to get food from downtown. The fear that bombing could happen at any time was prevalent among the villagers. No reporters were allowed to enter the village.
Abdollah Magomed, a civil district official here in Gimri, said that the tension was not so strained as to reinforce the expectation that a widespread military operation would be launched on the village. Magomed also said that he and his friends were trying to establish constructive dialogue with Gen. Sergei Chenchik, Assistant Manager of the Russian Interior Ministry Department for Battle against Organized Crimes. The Russian occupation would likely last for another one or two months, Magomed added.
Although Dagestan’s Deputy Interior Minister Abdullatip Abdullatipov was seen around the village, Dagestan officials of the Interior Minister put Russia’s National Anti-Terror Committee in full charge of the operation. KU/ÖZ/FT
