Alkhan-Kala operation
Alkhan-Kala operation | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Second Chechen War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Russia | Chechen Republic of Ichkeria | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Arbi Barayev † | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1+ | 18+ separatists killed | ||||||
unknown civilians killed or wounded 800 civilians arrested |
The Alkhan-Kala operation was a Chechen separatists, and the initial raid resulted in the death of Arbi Barayev, a high-ranking Chechen insurgent commander and organized crime leader.
Background
The
War of Dagestan began when Chechen Islamists invaded the Russian state of Dagestan, but were defeated by the Russian military in a month. The War of Dagestan was used as a casus belli to trigger the Second Chechen War, when Russian federal troops entered Chechnya and ended its independence. By June 2000, the war had entered an "insurgency phase", where Russian troops would perform several day-long zachistka (Russian
: зачистка) operations in Chechen villages.
Operation
On 22 June 2001, Russian troops launched a zachistka on Alkhan-Kala, a large village south-west of
Islamist organized crime syndicate that had terrorized Chechnya during its de facto independence after the First Chechen War. Officially, Barayev was reported killed in action in the initial raid, and his body was later handed over to his family.[1] Barayev's death had previously been reported by Russian media several times, only to re-emerge unscathed every time, however, after the raid the Kavkaz Center announced that "Special Islamic commander Arbi Barayev has become a martyr
."
The battle between Russian forces and Chechen separatists continued for six days and resulted in the massive destruction of Alkhan-Kala, with
house-to-house fighting leaving dozens of homes destroyed. According to the Russian officials, many of Barayev's accomplices were killed and some 800 villagers were taken into the custody.[2]
Aftermath
Arbi Barayev had been the most senior separatist leader to have been killed or captured by the Russians since the
tortured to death.[4]
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ FEDERAL FORCES RESPOND TO REBEL ATTACKS WITH PUNITIVE "CLEANSING" OPERATIONS. Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ The Security Organs of the Russian Federation. A Brief History 1991-2005 Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Russians kill Chechen warlord BBC News, 25 June 2001
- Chechnya: Barayev Death Highlights Russian Military Corruption RFE/RL, 26 June 2001