Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2008)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War

1 Timeline
2 References

[edit] Timeline

[edit] January

January 1 - Three high-ranking police officers were assassinated in a separate incidents in Chechnya and Dagestan, local Interior Ministry officials said.^[1] Rebel sources said seven pro-Russian policemen were killed in a series of sniper attacks in Grozny.^[2]

January 2 - A deputy platoon commander accidentally shot and killed a contract serviceman with a Kalashnikov rifle at a checkpoint on the limits of the village of Dargo, a source in law enforcement services told Interfax.^[3]

January 3 - A Russian contract soldier was shot dead reportedly accidentally in Dargo, Chechnya.^[4]

January 8 - Police killed two rebels in the Derbent district of Dagestan, Russian media reported.^[5] A group of rapid-response policemen were shot at in Ingushetia, killing one and wounding another, Interfax reported.^[6]

January 10 - Six militants were killed during a two-day special operation in Tabasaran district of Dagestan, Dagestan Interior Ministry said. Internal Troops soldier was wounded.^[7] One of Doku Umarov's men was killed in Grozny, Chechen Interior Minister said.^[8] A car bomb in Dagestan injured Gazi Gaziyev, a deputy of the Dagestan's People Assembly and the regional railways chief, and his driver.^[9]

January 12 - Two high-ranking officers were assassinated when their car came under fire in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The victims were the head of the region’s UBOP (organised crime squad) Anatoly Kyarov,^[10] and a senior officer of the OMON special police. Two other officers were injured and remained in critical condition.^[11] Kavkaz Center reported that the actual target for the assault was Chief of the FSB, Nikolai Patrushev.^[12]

January 14 - An apartment siege in Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan, ended with three alleged guerrillas killed and one policeman injured, the local police chief said. In Chechnya gunmen killed one police officer and wounded another in a southern forested area, the regional Interior Ministry said.^[13] A suspected militant was killed in an exchange of gunfire in the center of Grozny, the ministry said.^[14] A resident of the Ingush village of Kantyshevo, was killed in a shoot-out in the village of Verkhniye Achaluki in Ingushetia's Malgobeksky district.^[15]

January 15 - Police attacked a home in Grozny, killing four suspected militants, including Uvais Tachiyev, the alleged leader of a rebel group, while one OMON officer was wounded, Chechnya's Interior Ministry said.^[14] Kavkaz Center claimed one police officer died and another one was wounded when militants attacked a police car near the village of Achaluki, Ingushetia.^[16]

January 16 - RIA Novosti reported that one police officer was killed and six others wounded in the a clash with militants in the Vedensky District, and that one militant was killed in retaliatory fire.^[17] Itar Tass reported that the body of the deputy commander of the Ingushetian OMON, Senior Lieutenant Movsar Martazanov, was found in the city of Karabulak, Ingushetia with numerous gunshot wounds.^[18] Chechenpress claimed several Russian and pro-Russian troops were killed during a fierce fight in the Kurchaloyevsky District.^[19]

January 17 - Two police officers were wounded after they came under militants' gunfire in the Chechnya's Shalinsky District, a source with law enforcement agencies told Interfax. The Ingush Interior Ministry rejected as untrue reports by RIA Novosti and other Russian agencies that the home in Nazran of Ingushetia's Prime Minister Ibragim Malsagov was subjected to automatic-rifle and mortar fire and "destroyed".^[20]
January 18 - Chechenpress reported that large-scale character battles broke out in the area of Marzoi-Mohk in the Vedensky District and in the village of Alleroi in the Kurchaloyevsky District during previous week, resulting in the deaths of about 20 Russian and pro-Russian troops.^[21]
January 19 - Itar Tass reported that two policemen were wounded in shooting in Chechnya, near the village of Serzhen-Yurt; Kavkaz Center claimed at least two Spetsnaz soldiers were killed and three or four wounded in the shootout.^[22]^[23] Chechenpress reported that the Russian forces suffered on that day one fatal loss and nine injuries in the fighting in the area of the villages of Niki-Hita and Marzoi-Mohk.^[24] An armored vehicle collided with a bus in Chechnya's capital Grozny, killing a woman an injuring five people, Chechen parliamentarian Sharal Beldurov told Interfax.^[25]
January 20 - Two Interior Troops soldiers were killed and one wounded in a militant attack in eastern Chechnya, a Ministry source reported.^[26]
January 21 - Kavkaz Center reported that "many soldiers" died during four days of fighting near Marzoi-Mohk in the Kurchaloyevsky District.^[27] Russian agencies did not report on fighting in this district since January 16. KC reported simultaneous attacks on police stations and border troops in Nazran; no casualties were reported by the Russian sources.^[28]
January 22 - Gunmen ambushed a minibus in Ingushetia killing one soldier and injuring three army officers, after a car carrying explosives blew up killing the driver, news agencies reported.^[29]
January 23 - Two Russian servicemen were killed and three more wounded in an attack on a car in Ingushetia, RIA Novosti reported.^[30] RIAN also reported two militants were killed and one fatally wounded in a shootout with federal troops in Dagestan.^[31]
January 25 - Kavkaz Center claimed heavy fighting near Vedeno killed at least 8 soldiers and wounded 9 others as well as several rebels.^[32] They also clamed militants attacked a UAZ vehicle near Grozny, killing one soldier and wounding 3 others.^[33]
January 26 - A local police officer was killed in a clash with militants in the Nozhai-Yurt district in southeastern Chechnya, the Chechen Interior Ministry told Interfax.^[34]
January 27 - A Russian serviceman and a local policeman were killed in a battle with rebels during a security sweep in the Nozhai-Yurt region in southern Chechnya's mountains, officials said. Another two local police officers were wounded and two militants were killed in the ensuing gunbattle, the Chechen branch of Russia's Interior Ministry said.^[35]
January 28 - One serviceman was killed and another three were wounded in a shootout with militants near the village of Bamut, Achkhoy-Martanovsky District. As a result of the attack, the next day the Chechen village Gekhi 25 kilometers away has been subject to artillery fire,^[36] leading to protests from the republic's President Ramzan Kadyrov.^[37] A day later Kavkaz Center claimed that a Russian base in Bamut was attacked by heavy machine guns, light mortars and grenade launchers, killing seven soldiers and injuring nine.^[38]
January 30 - A policeman was killed and another one wounded by unknown gunmen in the village of Ekazhevo in Ingushetia's Nazranovsky district, Prague Watchdog reported. In a separate incident, two young men, Ramzan Nalgiyev and Dzhabrail Mutsulgov, were killed in the Ingush village of Surkhakhi. According to local law enforcers they were involved in acts of terrorism, but relatives said they were innocent civilians.^[39]^[40] A contract serviceman has been "abducted" on a reconnaissance operation in Chechnya, law enforcement sources told Interfax.^[41] Rebel sources later reported the servicemen was executed after interrogation; the execution was said to be revenge for the dead of two women, Malika and Zama, who died during a December 2007 sweep operation in Grozny.^[42]

January 31 - Two young inhabitants of Ingushetia, Dzhabrail Mutsolgov and Ramzan Nalgiev were shot dead by Russian soldiers who declared they were "terrorists". According to residents of the village of Surkhakhi, neither were involved in any illegal actions or commitment of crimes in the republic. According to the relatives of Mutsolgov, Dzhabrail, who was engaged in business in one of the regions of Russia, has returned to Ingushetia few days before, for the wedding of his brother. People are convinced that law enforcers had no reasons for demonstrative execution over unarmed Nalgiev and Mutsolgov.^[43]^[44]

[edit] February

February 1 - A vehicle with policemen came under fire in a pursuit operation in Chechnya near the residential site of Rubezhnoye. There were no losses among the policemen but one gunman was killed, a Chechen interior ministry source told Itar Tass.^[45] A young local resident, Yusup Chapanov, was shot dead by Russian forces in Nazran. While the authorities initially claimed he was suspected of many attacks on local law enforcers, his relatives said that he was innocent and that the police later admitted to them he was killed by mistake.^[46]^[47]

February 2 - Two officers of the Chechen Interior Ministry's Second Traffic Police Regiment were killed and another one was wounded in armed clash near the village of Mesedoi in the Vedeno district Chechnya, Interfax reported.^[48]^[49]

February 3 - Ingush police source told Itar Tass that the militants opened fire at a Nazran police patrol from a car, injuring three policemen and a refugee from Chechnya.^[50]

February 5 - One militant was killed by Interior Ministry special forces in Derbent, Dagestan, Interfax reported. The press service of the Dagestan Interior Ministry reported that two militants were surrounded in a private house and one OMON officer was injured in a firefight. Kavkaz Center reported that there were three militants inside and two managed to escape, and that the federal side suffered casualties as well.^[51]

February 6 - Militants attacked a policeman in Khasavyurt wounding a policeman who had his leg amputated after the assault. The attackers escaped. Itar Tass reported ^[52]

February 7 - Police killed two suspected militants in a shootout in the village of Avadan in Dagestan on the border with Azerbaijan and apprehended a third.^[53] Two policemen were badly wounded and one militant was killed in an attack on the policemen, Itar Tass reported. One of the policemen lost his leg in the assault^[54] Two young men were also reported to be forcibly disappeared in the republic in late January.^[55] The Grozny Garrison Military Court ohanded down a three-year suspended sentence for "negligence" to Interior Ministry Troops Lieutenant Colonel Aleksei Korgun. Korgun pled guilty to having given the command to open fire on March 24, 2007, on three women, killing one and injuring two.^[56]

February 8 - Itar Tass reported that policemen killed a militant on the administrative border between North Ossetia and Ingushetia as militants opened fire on police officers.^[57]

February 9 - Alkavkaz claimed an IED killed at least 3 soldiers in the Nozhay-Yurt district, Chechnya.^[58]

February 11 - Two militants were detained in Chechnya, officials reported.^[59] Alkavkaz claimed at least 2 soldiers were killed by an IED in the Vedeno-district, Chechnya.^[60]

February 12 - Three militants and a district police chief were killed and three policemen were wounded (including at least one badly wounded) during a gun battle in Dagestan, regional Interior Ministry said. Also in Dagestan, a roadside bomb hit a police car near the town of Khasavyurt, severely wounding one policeman.^[61] Muhannad, leader of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya has been reportedly killed by officers of the Russian Interior Ministry during a search operation near the village of Arshty in Ingushetia, a source in the Ministry told Interfax.^[62] Interfax refuted Muhannad's death the same day, saying it was a different militant ^[63]

February 13 - Two militants and one FSB officer were killed in a shoot-out in the village of Lukovskaya in North Ossetia, according to Russian media.^[64] Interfax reported a total of four people had died.^[65]

February 14 - Militants fired at a police vehicle in Nazran, Ingushetia, wounding six officers, Interfax reported. A group of policemen in Nazran arrested Maksharip Aushev, a local resident who organized a protest rally last fall. Aushev's brother-in-law was also "abducted" earlier in the day, according to his relatives. ^[66]

February 15 - Four teenage guerrillas were killed after a clash in Chechnya's Shatoysky district, the Chechen ministry reported. Before the battle the militants had attacked a police transport vehicle. No reports on federal casualties were made.^[67]^[68]

February 15 - Alkavkaz claimed at least two soldiers were killed in fighting near Tsa-Vedeno village in the Vedeno district, Chechnya ^[69]

February 18 - A police car exploded in the village of Ekazovo, Ingushetia. No police officers were injured as they had just left the vehicle, a source in law enforcement told Interfax.^[70] Officials reported a militant has been detained in Chechnya.^[71]

February 19 - According to Ingushetiya.ru a vehicle carrying an official came under fire.^[72] One Russian soldier was killed by an avalanche that hit a military camp in North-Ossetia.^[73]

February 20 - A police officer died and others were wounded when militants attacked a checkpoint in Ingushetia, Interfax reported.^[74] In a separate incident in Ingushetia, one MVD officer was killed and another one was wounded when militants launched an attack, Ingushetiya.ru reported.^[75] An alleged militant leader has been detained in Dagestan, officials reported.^[76]^[77]

February 22 - Two polic officers were wounded in Ingushetia after militants opened fire, Interfax reported.^[78] Rebel sources claimed, at least 1 officer was killed and 5 others were wounded.^[79]^[80] One of the officers died in the hospital.^[81] Rebel sources reported a UAZ military vehicle exploded in Chechnya killing 3 soldiers and seriously wounding 2 others.^[82]^[83] A police officer accidentally shot his colleague dead at a check-point near the Ingush village of Yandare, Interfax reported^[84]

February 23 - Two officers were wounded when Militants attacked a Police vehicle in Ingushetia, Interfax reported. ^[85]

February 26 - Rebel sources claimed 3 police officers were killed and more injured in an ambush near the village of Zhani-Vedeno, Chechnya.^[86]

February 27 - One local FSB officer was wounded in a blast in Ingushetia's Sunzhensky district, Russian media reported.^[87] Russian newspaper Itar Tass claimed a "major terrorist attack", aimed at civilians, has been prevented in Kizlyar, Dagestan and that two terrorist suspects have been detained.^[88]

February 28 - Two males and a pregnant woman were killed in a counter-terrorist operation in the suburb of Nazran, Ingushetia. Security forces assure that the killed were militants who offered armed resistance, but their family and neighbours said no armed resistance was given and the victims weren't militants. The bodies were returned to their relatives next month without their internal organs.^[89]

February 29 - A female FSB officer died after her car collided with a military vehicle in Chechnya.^[90]

[edit] March

March 1 - Alkavkaz claimed two soldiers were killed and three wounded after a military vehicle was blown up by militants in Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt district.^[91]
March 2 - Two bombings hit a police convoy in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, injuring one officer and one passerby. Initially, police said people had been killed in the blast, but the spokesman says there were only two injured. ^[92]

March 5 - Rebel sources claimed one soldier was killed and four wounded after rebels detonated an IED on a BTR armored personnel carrier in Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt region.^[93]^[94]

March 6 - A detained suspect wounded a high-ranking policeman while attempting to escape from investigation prison in Ingushetia, Russian media reported. The suspect then blew himself up with a grenade.^[95]

March 7 - The head of the North Ossetian Interor Ministry’s UBOP (Organized Crime Squad) Mark Metsayev was assassinated in the capital Vladikavkaz. Investigators established that his car was rammed and was then shot dead by three gunmen who fled the scene.^[96] The ossetian Jamaat Kataib al-Khoul claimed responsibility for the assassination.^[97] Two police officers were wounded after militants opened fire near the administration building in the village of Ekazhevo in Ingushetia.^[98] A police officer was wounded in Grozny, Chechnya after unknown gunmen opened fire.^[99]
March 8 - According to Kavkazcenter Russian media reported a UAZ police vehicle was hit by an explosive, with no casualties, in Makhachkala, Dagestan.^[100]
March 9 - A Russian soldier was killed after militants opened fire on a military vehicle in Troitskaya village (Sunzha district) of Ingushetia.^[101] Two civilians were injured during a militant attack on a police patrol post in the village of Khasanya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russian Media reported.^[102] One of the civilians died in the hospital days later.^[103]
March 10 - Militants attacked a military post in the village Troitskaya, Ingushetia, with no casualties from either side interfax reported.^[104]^[105] According to Kavkazcenter Russian media reported another UAZ police vehicle was hit by an explosive, without casualties, in Makchachkala, Dagestan.^[106]
March 11 - A soldier was injured by a mine blast in Chechnya's Shalinsky District.^[107] Alkavkaz claimed three soldiers were killed and four wounded during fighting Chechnya's Shalinsky District.^[108] At least one soldier was injured in Shali according to Livechechnya.^[109] Alkavkaz claimed two soldiers were killed and two wounded after militants bombed an Ural truck in Chechnya's Kurchaloy district.^[110] The bombing was confirmed by the authorities, but no casualties were reported. ^[111]

March 12 - An Ingush resident was killed during a counter-terrorist operation in the village of Troitskaya, Ingushetia. The local FSB claimed the militant blew himself up to avoid being captured.^[112] According to regnum.ru as well as Kavkazky Uzel, the resident by the name of Rustam Mutsolgov wasn't a militant and was shot dead without armed resistance.^[113]^[114] Ingushetiya.ru refuted the official report as well and reported the family of the 21 year old are convinced that he was innocent.^[115] An Ingush civilian died of his wounds obtained a week ago after coming under fire by police officers, allegedly for ignoring a stop signal.^[116] Reportedly the father of four children, Kotiev had passed one of the militia posts without noticing that he was required to stop, "Observers of law and order" then opened a massive fire at his car from automatic weapons as a result of which he had received a heavy gunshot wound.^[117]

March 13 - A police officer was wounded by unknown gunmen in Kabardino-Balkaria, the Caucasus Knot reported.^[118] Alkavkaz claimed a Russian military convoy was ambushed near Tsentoroy, Chechnya, killing many soldiers.^[119]

March 14 - Up to six guerrillas and at least two Russian MVD servicemen died during an operation in Dagestan's Buynaksk district, law enforcement authorities reported. Three are other servicemen were reported wounded.^[120]^[121] Rebels confirmed the deaths of 5 guerrillas and claimed six soldiers were killed and four wounded.^[122]^[123] In two separate incidents, one FSB officer was killed and two others were wounded by militants in Ingushetia, and a police lieutenant was fatally shot in his car in Ingushetia by a gunman.^[124]^[125] Chechnya's First Deputy Interior Minister Nikolai Simakov claimed police killed 19 insurgents and arrested 78 since 2008.^[126]

March 15 - Alkavkaz claimed three soldiers were killed when guerrillas attacked a Russian BTR in Chechnya's Vedenodistrict.^[127]

March 16 - On March 20 Rebel websites confirmed the deaths of three guerrillas killed during fighting in Chechnya's Vedeno district.^[128] A UAZ vehicle with 5 OMOM members was damaged by a roadbomb in Kabardino-Balkaria, reportedly no casualties.^[129] A 75 year old alternative healer was killed in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, possibly by muslim radicals who condemn such treatments.^[130] "There is the suspicion that this crime was committed by members of Askhab Bidaev's gang, who announced that they will be dealing with fortune-tellers and healers, whose work they consider Satanic," a Dagestani Interior Ministry source told Kavkazky Uzel.^[131]

March 17 - Reports came out that an assassination attempt on Putin and Medvedev had been foiled on March 2. A sniper, allegedly a Tajik national, was arrested with a sniper rifle inside an apartment that oversaw Putin and Medvedev on the day of the presidential elections in Russia. The FSB refutes these reports.^[132]^[133] KavkazCenter had published an article on March 7 that they had information from inside the Chechnya's government that the FSB planned to assassinate Medvedev to keep Putin in power, and they described Medvedev would be assassinated by sniper fire. ^[134] The former chairman of the state farm in mutsalaul, Dagestan was assassinated in Khasavyurt, Dagestan.^[135] An armored troop carrier with Russian militaries was bombed in Grozny, Chechnya, reportedly with no casualties. ^[136] Another roadbomb went off in Kabardino-Balkaria, reportedly nobody suffered. ^[137]

March 18 - Chechen government human rights defenders asked President Ramzan Kadyrov to initiate an investigation into the activities of the ill-famed ORB-2 police unit in 2006-7 and bring its former head, Akhmed Khasambekov, to justice.^[138]

March 19 - At least five law-enforcement officers, at least three rebels and at least two civilians were killed in a raid on an administration building in Chechnya's Urus-Martan district, during which rebels held the village of Alkhazurovo for hours. Rebels reported that a group of 70 rebel fighters had entered Alkhazurovo and that no fewer than 13 policemen had been killed in the ensuing battle, with 7-10 policemen wounded and several taken prisoner. Police confirmed the deaths of four policemen and an employee of the military prosecutor's office, as well as three more wounded. Both sides blamed each other for the civilian casualties. Two large military bases were present 6 and 7 kilometers away from the scene, but no backup had arrived.^[139]^[140]^[141] A roadside bomb damaged two Russian armoured personnel carriers and wounded two soldiers in Ingushetia.^[142]

March 20 - Two police officers were shot overnight in Moscow. Police returned fire, wounding the assailant, who was subsequently detained while the other assailant escaped. One of the men was a resident of Nalchik, and may have been a member of an "organized crime group", Ria Novosti reported.^[143] A police car was blown-up in Ingushetia, one officer was wounded.^[144]A police officer was wounded when a police car was fired at in Kabardino-Balkaria.^[145] The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia for the disappearance of two Chechen brothers, Lom-Ali and Umar-Ali Aziyev, in Grozny in September 2000.^[146]

March 21 - A car with 5 police officers was fired at in Grozny, Chechnya, wounding one officer.^[147] A bomb exploded at a police checkpoint in Ingushetia, reportedly nobody was hurt.^[148] Russian ministry reported 61 Russian troops were killed in 2008^[149] An official was wounded by a grenade blast in Dagestan's derbentskeyeo district.^[150] Ilyas Shurpayev, Russia's First Channel correspondent in Dagestan, and Gadzhi Abashilov, head of the local TV station GTRK Dagestan, whose names had allegedly been put on a blacklist of journalists by a Dagestani weekly newspaper, were killed in Moscow and Makhachkala, respectively.

March 22 - A policeman shot dead a man, who allegedly tried to grab the officer's Kalashnikov automatic rifle on a road in Chechnya, local police reported.^[151] Kavkaz Center claimed Kadyrovtsy officers were killed during fighting in Chechnya.^[152]

March 23 - Guerrillas in Chechnya opened fire on a FSB Mi-8 helicopter which was damaged and reportedly made an emergency landing.^[153]. A police officer was injured and a local killed during a skirmish with rebels in Urus-Martan, Chechnya.^[154] Alkavkaz claimed 2 federals were killed and others wounded by a road-bomb in Chechnya's Shali district.^[155]

March 24 - At least two police officers were killed in Chechnya's Kurchaloyevsky District and at least one police officer was killed and another wounded when gunmen attacked a police vehicle in Khasav-yurt, Dagestan.^[156] Kavkaz Center claimed three officers were killed and more wounded in the attack in Chechnya and that two officers were killed in the attack in Dagestan and two others heavily wounded.^[157]^[158] At least four people including at least two police officers were injured when a car bomb detonated near a bank in the city of Nazran, Ingushetia. Reportedly the police officers were seriously wounded.^[159] Kavkaz Center claimed all four victims were police officers.^[160] A resident, Khazbulat Sharipov aged 19, was shot dead by Kadyrovtsy officers near Grozny, Chechnya, allegedly for offering armed resistance during a passport check.^[161] His relatives are convinced he was killed for no reason and are since then campaigning for an investigation.^[162] Rebels claimed four officers were killed and more wounded during an ambush in a village in Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt district.^[163]^[164] Two MVD officers were seriously injured because of rockfall in Chechnya's Shatoi district.^[165]

March 25 - Two Ossetian police officers were injured on the border with Ingushetia after guerrillas opened fire.^[166]

March 26 - Alkavkaz claimed 3 servicemen were killed and more wounded when guerrillas blew up a Russian BTR near Vedeno.^[167]

March 27 - Three alleged guerrillas have been killed in the town of Dagestanskiye Ogni, East Dagestan, Russian media reported.

March 31 - A senior lieutenant was wounded when militants fired at a group of officers and soldiers in Ulus-Kert, Shatoi, Chechnya.^[168] An explosive device was thrown in the house of the deputy-minister of culture of Ingushetia in a possible assassination attempt, but nobody was hurt. ^[169]

[edit] April

April 1 - Three military officers have been injured in Chechnya after an armored vehicle explosion, Interfax reported.^[170] A civilian was killed when an IED missed a bus of police guards in Makhachkala, Dagestan.^[171] A Russian contract soldier was shot dead by one of his colleagues, which was reported to be an accident.^[172]

April 2 - Two high ranking officers were wounded in Ingushetia, in what was said to be an accident.^[173]

April 3 - Rebels held the village of Yandi-Kotar, in Chechnya's Urus-Martan district, for several hours, a resident told Kavkazy-Uzel, conducting a search operation for police staff in people's homes. A Vedeno policeman reported that infrequently rebels set up checkpoints to kill those who show police ID as one of their new tactics.^[174]

April 5 - Three Russian servicemen were wounded when militants fired on a military police convoy in Ingushetia's Sunzhensky district.^[175]^[176]

April 6 - A local resident was severely injured when his car was hit by an armored personnel carrier, with about 200 angry rresidents preventing the APC from leaving until police had arrived. Since 2002, there have been five accidents involving armored military vehicles and civilian transport in Ingushetia, in which civilians have been killed or seriously injured.^[177]

April 7 - Two IED exploded in Ingushetia in which one police-car was destroyed, but nobody was hurt.^[178]

April 8 - One officer was wounded in the head and back when a police station in Grozny came under fire by militants armed with automatic weapons, Ria Novosti reported.^[179]^[180] A car owned by a local police officer was blown up in Malgobek, Ingushetia. There were no casualties, interfax reported.^[181]

April 9 - A police officer was heavily injured when a car bomb detonated his vehicle in Nazran, Ingushetia.^[182]

April 10 - A police officer died of a gunshot wound in Gudermes, Chechnya. It's said to be accidental.^[183] The Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov claimed that During the first three months of 2008, 22 militants were killed and more than 100 arrested in Chechnya.^[184]

April 11 - A police officer was killed and several more wounded when their car came under fire by militants in Sagopshi, Ingushetia.^[185]

April 13 - A top judge, Khasan Yandiyev, deputy head of Ingushetia's Supreme Court, was assassinated in Karabulak, Ingushetia. Yandiyev had chaired trials of both Islamic rebels and corrupt officials.^[186] A Dagestani militant leader, Ismail Yangizbiyev, was killed in Khasavyurt, Dagestan.^[187] Two police officers died in a frontal crash with another vehicle, severely injuring two other persons, in Gudermes, Chechnya.^[188]

April 14 - A home-made grenade was thrown in the house of a police captain in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, but nobody was hurt.^[189]

April 15 - A military vehicle carrying 4 special forces members was ambushed in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, but reportedly nobody was injured.^[190]

April 16 - One Russian soldier was killed and another "gravely" wounded when an IED exploded a gas pipe in Grozny, Chechnya.^[191] Nine officers from a special purpose police unit have been injured when militants raided an OMON base in Karabulak, Ingushetia. A local resident, allegedly one of the participants, was detained. Many police vehicles were damaged in the raid and at least one of the wounded is said to be in "grave condition".^[192]^[193]

April 18 - The chief of the police in Chechnya's Sunzhensky District, Ali Gaytamurov was found shot dead in Assinovskaya, Ingushetia, after he was abducted on April 17. In the same night the administration building of Assinovskaya was set on fire and burned down.^[194] An explosive device blew up in the home of the mayor of Nazran, Ingushetia, Beyali Oozdoeva in a possible assassination attempt, but nobody was hurt.^[195]

April 19 - A Senior Lieutenant of the Chechen MVD died of a gunshot wound to the stomach in Grozny, which he was reported to have inflicted on himself by accident.^[196] At least one soldier was injured when a group of soldiers was fired at on the border of North-Ossetia and Ingushetia.^[197]

April 20 - A Russian deputy commander of the Osnaz Internal Troops, Eugene Dzhandarov, was killed and a soldier heavily wounded during a skirmish in the village of Eshelkhatoy, in Chechnya's Vedeno District.^[198]^[199] Two young girls were shot dead, according to Chechnya's human rights ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiev, when someone fired on the car in which the representative of the Chechen human rights ombudsman in the Vedeno district, Khasambek Zubairaev, was driving. The gunfire reportedly killed Zubairaev's two nieces, aged 5 and 8, and wounded his brother and sister. Nukhaziev alleged that forces of Sulim Yamadayev's Vostok Spetsnaz battalion carried out the attack. No details about the shooting incident or who may have been responsible for it were provided by law-enforcement or other relevant government agencies.^[200]

April 21 - Rebels reported of a large-scale raid by rebel forces in several villages in the Urus-Martan and Achkhoi-Martan districts of Chechnya. According to their data the forces were numbered around 400-500, that 23 Kadyrovtsy officers were killed, 15 captured and many buildings and vehicles destroyed. According to Russian officials only the administration building of one of the villages was set on fire.^[201] No other sources reported of any raid, but the Jamestown Foundation reported that a raid might have occurred, albeit with much smaller numbers.^[202] One Internal Troops soldier was wounded by a roadside bomb in Grozny, Chechnya's MVD reported.^[203] A female resident was lightly injured when rebels attack a checkpoint in Ingushetia the MVD reported,^[204] while according to local inhabitants rebels were not involved and the firing came from police officers.^[205] Two police vehicles were damaged by gunfire in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, but nobody was hurt according to local officials.^[206]

April 22 - An Mi-8 helicopter of the FSB was heavily damaged by gunfire and made a successful emergency landing in the Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya, Law-Enforcement agencies reported.^[207] Two military vehicles of the Russian MVD were hit by a roadside bomb in Avtury, Chechnya, with no casualties according to the MVD.^[208] One officer was wounded when a grenade was thrown from a vehicle in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.^[209]

April 23 - At least two FSB colleagues were heavily injured, according to the Ria news agency, when their car was fired at by militants in the settlement of Surkhakhi in the Nazran region of Ingushetia. The site Ingushetiya.ru reported instead that 3 colleagues were killed and one was heavily wounded.^[210]

April 24 - Two soldiers were wounded, of which at least one heavily, by an explosive device at a checkpoint near Nazran, Ingushetia. According to Ingushetiya.ru a military vehicle was damaged during the explosion.^[211]^[212]

April 25 - One person was killed and two police officers were wounded during three attacks from a single vehicle in Nazran, Ingushetia. The killed person was the brother of a deputy officer who was supposedly the target of the shootings, the Ingush MVD reported.^[213]^[214]

April 26 - A Dagestani guard was gravely wounded and lost both his legs by an explosive device which was wired on a bridge over the river Aktash in Khasavyurt, Dagestan.^[215]

April 29 - Two rebel fighters were killed in Chechnya's Vedeno district, according to local military officials. The rebels were allegedly involved in the April 20 shooting in which by some reports two girls died.^[216] A wounded rebel was detained after being hurt while trying to plant a mine in Chechnya's Vedeno district according to Chechnya's MVD.^[217] A Russian contract soldier was injured when militants fired at a group of soldiers in South-Eastern Chechnya, Chechnya's MVD reported.^[218]

According to the Russian Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus, 32 insurgents and 17 federal troops were killed in 2008 as of April 27, 2008.^[219]

[edit] May

May 1 - An Internal Troops servicemen was injured by sniper-fire in Ingushetia's Nazran district, Interfax reported.^[220]

May 2 - At least one soldier and an officer were killed and another officer wounded during a clash in Urus-Martan Chechnya, in which participated an estimated 30 rebels, Federal officials reported. The officers were of the Kadyrov patrol regiment. An estimated four rebels were wounded as traces of blood were later found on the forest tracks. The rebel-linked website Kavkaz Center however, claimed that at least nine law enforcement officers were killed in a gunfight that lasted for four hours.^[221]^[222] One officer was wounded by gunfire in Nazran, Ingushetia, Interfax reported.^[223]

May 3 - Two colleagues of the non-departmental protection were wounded by militants in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, according to law-enforcement agencies.^[224] Local residents reported of an explosion in the cossack village Troitskaya in Ingushetia. In this populated area the regiment the Defense Ministry is stationed, but no reports have been made by officials.^[225]

May 4 - The commander of a detachment of Kadyrov's patrol service regiment was assassinated near his home in the Vedeno region of Chechnya, Itar Tass reported.^[226] A contract soldier was killed when his car fell down a cliff in the Shamilskogo region of Dagestan. The cause was said to be rockfall.^[227] The house of a former Federal officer was fired at by a grenade launcher in Ingushetia, but nobody was hurt according to police reports.^[228]

May 5 - Five police officers were killed and two others heavily wounded by a roadside bomb in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. The officers were working on security ahead of the inauguration of Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev.^[229]^[230] In a separate incident, another officer was killed in Grozny after unidentified assailants opened fire on two police trucks, carrying eight officers.^[231]^[232] A mass grave with seven bodies was discovered in Gudermes, Chechnya, officials reported.^[233] One soldier was wounded by a mine-blast in Chechnya's Vedeno district, officials reported.^[234] At least one serviceman was wounded in Nazran, Ingushetia by militant fire. Another attack in Ingushetia occurred but the MVD did not report of the incident and casualties are unknown.^[235]

May 6 - One soldier was killed and 14 others heavily wounded when their Ural vehicle overturned In Ingushetia's Nazran district. The official cause was reported to be a human error.^[236] A woman was injured during an attack on an officer in Ingushetia's Nazran region.^[237]