Chechen MIA: all militants liquidated in Vedeno District identified

The law enforcement bodies of Chechnya have disclosed the names of several suspected members of the armed underground who were killed on June 9 in the mountainous Vedeno District. Last weekend four more potential militants were liquidated here, the bodies assert. Local human rights activists are sceptical of the data.

Now, the broad-scale special operation against members of the armed underground launched back on May 8 continues in the southeast of Chechnya. The militants' list of casualties is growing, while there is practically no data about any losses among the power agents who take part in the operation.

Earlier, President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov stated that the information about liquidation of Yasir Amarat, a field commander from Jordan, in the Vedeno District was "legally confirmed".

"The information about liquidation last week in the Vedeno District of the Arabian mercenary Yasir Amarat, also known as 'Amir Yasir', was confirmed. Operative agents found his tomb, which was shown by one of detained militants," a source in local law enforcement bodies told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his version, the eight supposed militants liquidated on June 8 in the special operation have also been identified.

Last weekend, on June 12-13, as the source said, law enforcers liquidated four more rebels in the Vedeno District.

In the meantime, differing data on militants' losses and the mess with the facts forced some local observers to suspect that the Chechen leadership and power agents are concealing something.

"I see rather doubtful that after several hours of fierce armed conflict with a militants' grouping not a single power agent was at least scratched, let alone a serious wound or death. It is actually unreal. Either we see an attempt to conceal real facts or the information is revealed in doses," one of the experts, who preferred remaining anonymous, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his version, there are no confirmations about any serious armed clashes in the Vedeno District of the republic. "There's a lot of strange in the death of that very Yasir. They say that he was first poisoned, together with several other militants, and only then power agents approached the militants' base and staged a battle. Then, they hid Yasir's body somewhere and announced in a while that they had found his grave. The same is with the count of liquidated militants. Originally, they were ten, then - eight, and now it appears that they are 12," said the expert.