Power agents got mixed up in their versions about armed skirmish in Shali

The armed clashes that broke out on January 30 in the Chechen town of Shali and led to casualties was either a pre-planned militants’ attack, or an occasional accident, due to which power agents had thwarted crimes of the supporters of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia. The divergence of versions has caused both controversies in power agents’ statements and local residents’ stories.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that last night two policemen were killed in the Chechen town of Shali. After the attack, a counterterrorist operation (CTO) was conducted, as a result of which three alleged attackers were killed; and the police have also confirmed that two civilians were wounded.

According to the version voiced out by the head of Chechnya, the shootout broke out after in the centre of Shali policemen tried to stop some suspicious persons, who were approaching the police post.

The Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has announced a similar version.

“In the course of night patrolling, policemen stopped three suspicious persons, who opened fire in response to the demand to present their documents and tried to escape,” said the message of January 30 posted on the website of the Investigating Department for Chechnya of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

The role of one of the killed policemen in the shootout remains unclear.

The Kadyrov’s statement, presented by his press service, says that "the casualties of wounds and shrapnel traumas were the Police Sergeant Ali Muslimkhanov, an employee of the Shali ROVD (District Interior Division), and Islam Yakhadjiev, an employee of the patrol-and-post service (PPS) of the MIA Department of Grozny, a native of Shali, who died after coming home.”

That is, Aslam Yakhadjiev, who served in Grozny, could not participate in patrolling or other activities in Shali. However, the statement posted on the website of the Chechen MIA on January 30 states that both policemen perished "in the performance of their official duties."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.