Analysts doubt involvement of armed underground in incident in Karachaevsk

An attack on policemen in Karachaevsk, as a result of which two of them were killed, is not connected with the armed underground, since it has been practically eliminated in Northern Caucasus. The attackers may have a criminal background, and they even may be former contract soldiers from a private military company (PMC), as may be concluded from the level of their training, analysts note.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Karachay-Cherkessia has announced that Akhmat and Ruslan Elkanov, Kazbek Djazaev, Ruslan Semyonov, and Vladimir Averyanov are wanted on suspicion of attacking the policemen in Karachaevsk on April 22.

There is no armed underground in Northern Caucasus, and in particular in Karachay-Cherkessia, suggests retired MIA Colonel Amir Kolov. “If there was an armed underground in Northern Caucasus, it existed only during the military campaign in Chechnya. An armed underground needs organizational and financial support from the outside, which does not exist now,” the retired MIA Colonel noted.

The incident in Karachaevsk is criminal and may be related to a conflict between law enforcers and someone of the ordinary people, Amir Kolov believes. “In Northern Caucasus, there is lawlessness on the part of law enforcers, who feel their impunity ... It is possible that the attackers were former prisoners, including former law enforcers, who could be offended at some point by their superiors,” the retired MIA Colonel explained.

The incident could be attributed to militants, the expert added.

Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, has also expressed the opinion that militants could be blamed for the attack on the law enforcers in Karachaevsk. “When the police reach a dead end in their search ... there is a possibility that they take innocent people and declare them terrorists,” Ruslan Kutaev stated.