Another “mopping-up“ operation in Tsotsin-YurtRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus - The village of Tsotsin-Yurt in the Kurchaloyski district, east Chechnya, has been blocked by Russian soldiers since October 6. The village is surrounded by some 200 military vehicles. During the whole period hardly any local inhabitants have been allowed to leave the village. Everybody who wants to enter Tsotsin-Yurt is stopped at checkpoints, cars are controlled, searched and returned back.
According to scrappy evidence coming from the village, the soldiers are carrying out house-to-house controls, checking gardens, houses and all outbuildings. There is so far no evidence of detention although it is known that all the male population of Tsotsin-Yurt is undergoing so-called filtration procedures.
This is not the first “mopping-up” operation in Tsotsin-Yurt. During earlier controls 20 people had been detained, including a woman with a three-month-old child, who was accused of being a wife of a Chechen fighter. All people but three youths were released a week later. All detained had been cruelly beaten. During the previous “special operation” in Tsotsin-Yurt, the soldiers had taken away all valuables they could find.
The inhabitants of Avtury, related to the Tsotsin-Yurt villagers, confirm that the encircled village already lacks food supplies. The people call on representatives of international human rights and humanitarian organizations to intercede on their behalf. |
