Alkhan-Kala operation

Coordinates: 43°15′32″N 45°32′06″E / 43.259°N 45.535°E / 43.259; 45.535
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Alkhan-Kala operation
Part of Second Chechen War
Date22 June 2001 - 28 June 2001
Location
Alkhan-Kala, Chechnya
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
 Russia Chechnya Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Commanders and leaders
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria 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

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2011-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ FEDERAL FORCES RESPOND TO REBEL ATTACKS WITH PUNITIVE "CLEANSING" OPERATIONS. Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2011-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ The Security Organs of the Russian Federation. A Brief History 1991-2005 Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

External links

43°15′32″N 45°32′06″E / 43.259°N 45.535°E / 43.259; 45.535