18:35, 24 April 2019

ICRF: two residents of Stavropol Territory involved in Shamil Basaev's raid on Dagestan

Takhir Begeldiev. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wauunxvbGtM

Takhir Begeldiev and Nariman Otepov, two residents of the Stavropol Territory, were involved in an attack on Dagestan led by Shamil Basaev and Emir Khattab in 1999, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) reports today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 10, it became known that Arslambi Achetyrov and Timur Otegenov, two residents of the Stavropol Territory, were charged of armed riot and an attempt on the life of a soldier. According to investigators, the defendants took part in the militants' attack on Dagestan in 1999 led by Shamil Basaev and Emir Khattab.

On August 7, 1999, armed groups of militants led by Shamil Basaev and Emir Khattab entered the territory of Dagestan. The villages of Ansalta, Rakhat, Shodroda, and Godoberi in the Botlikh District were captured at once, and over the other several days, the militants managed to seize other villages in the Botlikh and Tsumada Districts. By August 24, the federal forces forced the militants out of Dagestan into Chechnya.

According to the investigators, in the middle of July 1999, Takhir Begeldiev and Nariman Otepov voluntarily joined the militants' unit led by Shamil Basaev and Emir Khattab, and in the period from August 7 to 24, 1999, they took part in a militants' attack on soldiers and officers in the Botlikh District of Dagestan. The investigators will request the detention of the detainees, reports the ICRF on its website today.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 24, 2019 at 12:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.