Screwdriver attack in Magas shows state of armed underground

Lone militants make use of surprise factor to attack law enforcers, but the use of improvised means in the attack on the traffic police post in Magas became evidence of the weakening of the armed underground, military experts and a Caucasus expert believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a man with a screwdriver attacked traffic police inspectors at the entrance to the city of Magas. One inspector was wounded; the attacker was killed, the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has informed.

Sergey Goncharov, the president of the Association of Veterans of the "Alpha" Anti-Terror Units, believes that militants in Northern Caucasus have run out of weapons. According to his story, the only serious weapon in militants' hands is the element of surprise attack.

Vasily Dandykin, a military expert, agreed with him, adding that this is the style of lone fighters who attack law enforcers. It is already difficult for them to find weapons and supporters, so they resort to such methods – a sudden attack with whatever is at hand.

According to Mr Dandykin, the tactics of individual terror acts by using improvised means indicate that the underground in Northern Caucasus has become very weak.

A Russian expert on the Caucasus thinks it inappropriate to talk about law enforcers' poor training against such attacks.

"It's difficult to prevent attacks that are unexpected and occur at the moment when an attacker is as close to a law enforcer as possible. Many people approach them in the street to ask or say something, and it is not always possible to distinguish an attacker from an ordinary person," the source has explained.