New wave of «mopping-up operations»Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus, special to Prague Watchodog
The three biggest cities in Chechnya - Grozny, Gudermes and Argun - are teeming with Russian army soldiers and the Interior Ministry troops in a new wave of "mopping-up" operations, searches, arrests and passport checks.
The streets of Gudermes are almost empty with only Russian heavy armoured cars and soldiers with trained dogs moving and watching around. More than 500 civilians have been detained and forced to undergo a "filtration" procedure in Argun, Gudermes and the settlement of Dzhalka in last two days.
Checkpoints have been closed also around the capital Grozny with no cars, pedestrians and even officials working in the pro-Moscow Chechen government being allowed to enter the city. In addition, local schools and the university have remained out of order.
A local administration official said Argun had been sealed off as well. There was a shooting on Tuesday between two groups of Russian soldiers during a "mopping-up" operation. Members of one of the troops thought their colleagues were Chechen fighters masqueraded as soldiers. The result - one killed and two soldiers injured.
More information emerged on Sunday night suicidal explosion in Argun. A suicide attacker stopped his car loaded with an explosive in front of the house of mayor Temirbulatov and then brought the blast-mechanism to effect. Since the explosion damaged the administration building, the local administration has virtually been not working for three days already.
Checks and searches are carried out also in Staraya Sunzha, one of the capital's peripheral settlements. On the night of September 12 Russian soldiers encircled one of local houses, the home of the Eltuyev family. The soldiers beat all the present family members, emptied and tumbled the furniture, stole gold valuables and more than 20,000 roubles. Father of the family had to be hospitalized with bruizes and injuries as a result of beating.
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