Ingush-Ossetian conflict
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| War in Prigorodny District | |||||||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||||||
 Ossetian Militia |
 Ingush Militia |
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| Casualties | |||||||||||
| ~180 dead?, unknown wounded |
~2,000 dead?, unknown wounded |
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| 1Involvement Disputed | |||||||||||
| Conflicts in the former Soviet Union |
|---|
| Nagorno-Karabakh – South Ossetia – Abkhazia – Georgia – North Ossetia – Transnistria – Tajikistan – 1st Chechnya – Dagestan – 2nd Chechnya |
The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict refers to the inter-ethnic conflict in Prigorodny District, part of Russian federal subject of Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, which started in 1989 and developed into a full scale ethnic war in 1991 between local Ingush and Ossetian military units.
[edit] Origins of the Conflict
In 1924 the Ingush Autonomous Republic was created which included the Prigorodny district and part of Vladikavkaz, populated mainly by ethnic Ingush. In 1934 by the Soviet decree from Moscow, the Ingush Autonomous Republic was merged with Chechen Autonomous Oblast (region) allocating Vladikavkaz territories of the Ingush to the newly created North Ossetia, leaving Prigorodny district under the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Republic. In 1944, by the orders of Stalin more than hundreds of thousands of Ingush and Chechens were deported to Central Asian and Siberia due to the alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany. Soon after, depopulated Prigorodny District was transferred to North Ossetia. [1]
In 1957 the repressed Ingush and Chechens were allowed to return to their native land and Chechen-Ingush Republic was restored, however, leaving Prigorodny district under the control of North Ossetia. Soviet authorities prevented Ingush from returning to their territory in Prigorodny district; however Ingush families managed to move in, purchased houses back from the Ossetians and resettled the district in greater numbers. [2] This gave the rise to the idea of “restoring historical justice” and ‘returning native lands” among the Ingush population and inteligencia which contributed to the already existing tensions between ethnic Ossetians and Ingush. Between 1973-1980 the Ingush voiced their demands of reunification of Prigorodny district with Ingushetia by staging various protests and meetings in Grozny. The situation deteriorated in early 1991, when the Ingush openly declared their rights to the Prigorodny district according to the Soviet law adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 26, 1991, 3d and the 6th articles on “territorial rehabilitation”. The law gave the Ingush legal grounding for their demands which caused serious turbulence in the region with free access to weapons resulting in armed conflict between ethnic Ingush population of Prigorodny district and Ossetian armed Militias from Vladikavkaz. [3]
