Alpha Group

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(Redirected from
Alpha (Security Service of Ukraine)
)
This article is about Soviet and later Russian special operations force. For other organisations, military or otherwise, with the same name, see Alpha Group (disambiguation). For Russian investment group, see Alfa Group. For Cuban militant group, see Alpha 66. For Mexico City Police Alfa Group (Agrupamiento Alfa), see Law enforcement in Mexico City § Preventive Police.

Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center
Spetsgruppa "A"
Viktor Karpukhin
Gen. Gennady Zaitsev[3]

Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group (a popular English name), or Alfa, whose official name is Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center (TsSN FSB) (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is a stand-alone sub-unit of

black operations inside and outside Russia. It is also available for extended police duties, for paramilitary operations, and for covert operations
, both domestically and internationally.

In the Soviet Union

Creation and organization

On 28 July 1974, Alpha Group was created on the orders of the KGB Chairman, Yuri Andropov, in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich massacre. It might have been established as a response to West Germany's creation of the Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (or the GSG 9).[4] By attaching a special-purpose unit to the office of the First Chief Directorate in Moscow (later the Seventh Directorate[5]), it was hoped that the Soviet Union's defensive capacity against terrorist attacks would increase significantly. At the time, other, more offensive special forces of the KGB included the groups Zenit and Kaskad/Omega. Another important mission for Alpha was to provide security for the Soviet leadership against enemy special forces in times of crisis or war.[6]

Later, territorial Alpha units were established across the Soviet Union:[7]

Operations

Initially, this special-purpose

Viktor Karpukhin and Gen. Gennady Zaitsev.[3]

Foreign operations

Soon, Alpha was assigned missions far exceeding its formal scope.

Storm-333, and the initial invasion, marked the beginning of the ten-year Soviet–Afghan War, and subsequently, Alpha Group's extensive involvement throughout the conflict.[2]

Six years later, in October 1985, Alpha Group was dispatched to war-torn Beirut, Lebanon. The Kremlin was informed of the kidnapping of four Soviet diplomats by the militant group, the Islamic Liberation Organization (a radical offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood). It was believed that this was retaliation for the Soviet support of Syrian involvement in the Lebanese Civil War.[19] However, by the time Alpha arrived, one of the hostages had already been killed. Through a network of supporting KGB operatives, members of the task-force identified each of the perpetrators involved in the crisis, and once identified, began to take the relatives of these militants as hostages. Following the standard Soviet policy of no negotiations with terrorists, one of the hostages taken by Alpha Group had his testicles removed and sent to the militants before being killed. The warning was clear: more would follow unless the remaining hostages were released immediately.[20] The show of force worked; and, for a period of 20 years, no Soviet or Russian officials were taken captive, until the 2006 abduction and murder of four Russian embassy staff in Iraq. However, the veracity of this story has been brought into question. Another version says that the release of the Soviet hostages was the result of extensive diplomatic negotiations with the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, who appealed to King Hussein of Jordan, and the leaders of Libya and Iran, to use their influence on the kidnappers.[21]

Fall of the Soviet Union

Intervention in the Baltics

On 11 March 1990, the

Baltic States condemned Golovatov's release, and said that it should have been one of "... the occasions when suspects are detained and extradited, particularly when they are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity ..." as "... the crimes performed in 1991 in Vilnius and Riga have no limitation ..." ("Riga" referring to a similar crackdown in January 1991, when six Latvian policemen and civilians were killed by Soviet OMON and KGB forces, possibly including Alpha Group members).[23]

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt

During the events of the

Internal Troops, special units of the Dzerzhinsky Division (OMSDON), mobilised units of the Moscow OMON, three tank companies, and a squadron of helicopters. On-site analysis of the area was conducted by Airborne deputy commander Alexander Lebed, and other senior officers who mingled with the crowds of anti-coup protesters nearest to the White House. There was a general consensus among the military officials who gathered that day, as evidenced by their statements months after the botched coup attempt, that had they followed through on their endeavour it would have succeeded. The stated mission objectives could have been reached in no more than half-an-hour, but it would have come at a terrible human cost.[24] Shortly after their assessment was made, Gen. Karpukhin and Vympel's Boris Beskov convinced the KGB Deputy chairman, Gennady Ageyev, that such a massive undertaking should be cancelled.[25][26][27][28]

In the Russian Federation

Hero of the Russian Federation medal

Decorated servicemen

As of 2018, nine officers of Alpha have been awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation:

  • Lt. Gennady Sergeyev (posthumously)
  • Col. Anatoly Saveliev (posthumously)
  • Maj. Vladimir Ulyanov (posthumously)
  • Maj. Yuri Danilin (posthumously)
  • Col. Sergei Dyachenko
  • Col. Valery Kanakin
  • Lt. Artyom Sevshencko
  • Maj. Alexander Perov (posthumously)
  • Col. Andrei Kum.[3]

Shuffling and reforms

Alpha Group was severely downgraded during the

Federal Security Service (FSB), Sergei Stepashin. Two months later, Alpha and Vityaz were both transferred from the MVD to the FSB. Simultaneously, Mikhail Barsukov became the new head of the organization, and created the FSB Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC), headed by Gen. Viktor Zorkin.[5][10] Directorate "A" (Alpha) was tasked with protecting transportation and buildings while Directorate "V" (Vega/Vympel) was tasked with protecting strategic sites (another Directorate, "K", was tasked with ideological counterintelligence); "A" and "V" were soon joined in a Tsentr Spetsnaz (Special Purpose Center) under Gen. Vladimir Pronichev.[5]

Meanwhile, Alpha veterans became active in legitimate businesses (such as the private security company Alpha-B co-founded by Col. Golovatov in August 1993[29]) in organised crime, as well as in politics.[1] The Alpha veterans' association, led by Sergey Goncharov, strongly opposed Russian President Yeltsin faction's party, Our Home – Russia, in the legislative election of 1995 (Goncharov later became a State Duma deputy).[1][30] Gen. Karpukhin, who resigned from the service following the 1991 coup attempt, became chief of security to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, after which he worked with private security companies in Moscow, and ran unsuccessfully for the Duma as a member of the Union of Patriots in 1995.[31]

Operations

In October 1995, Alpha killed the armed man who hijacked a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Moscow. He had demanded $1 million and to be flown out of the country.[8][32] In December 1997, Alpha freed the Swedish trade counsellor Jan-Olof Nyström who was kidnapped in Moscow by a gunman similarly demanding a ransom and a flight out of Russia. The hostage was swapped for Alpha's Colonel Anatoly Saveliev (Savelyev), and the hostage-taker was killed during the storming of the embassy. Colonel Savelyev was injured during the action, and died in hospital of a heart attack shortly thereafter.[33]

1993 Russian constitutional crisis

In 1993, during the

Hotel Ukraina, the unit finally agreed to move.[35] Opposition gunmen were blamed for the shooting, but it is possible that the shots were actually fired by members of a special unit loyal to Yeltsin; it was rumoured that the snipers in the hotel were commanded by Alexander Korzhakov, chief of the Presidential Security Service (SBP).[36] The crisis ended when Yeltsin's forces, paratroopers supported by tanks and armoured personnel carriers, many of which were manned not by conscripts but members of the Union of Afghanistan Veterans,[35] stormed and seized the White House on 4 October 1993, killing dozens, and possibly hundreds, of people, and ensuring the total victory of Yeltsin's faction.[35][36][37][38] In the end, Rutskoy and the other leaders of anti-Yeltsin faction, including Ruslan Khasbulatov, Vladislav Achalov and Viktor Barannikov, all negotiated their surrender to the Alpha troops, who had entered the shelled and burning building after the shooting stopped, and brought them, along with the detained Supreme Soviet deputies, to Lefortovo Prison.[35][36]

Conflicts in Chechnya and the North Caucasus

Then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Alpha officers during a visit to Gudermes, Chechnya in 2011

The Alpha Group was involved in the

North Ossetia, which was the main headquarters, staging area and logistics base for Russian forces entering Chechnya.[8][40] Later, many Alpha troops served in "mobile anti-terror groups" (mobilnye gruppy antiterrora), as well as providing security for the pro-Moscow Chechen government complex and the regional FSB headquarters in the Chechen capital Grozny.[8] In August 1996, when the city was retaken by Chechen separatist forces, 35 of them (including 14 members of the territorial Alpha unit from Krasnodar Krai)[8] took part in a defence of the FSB headquarters. The separatist forces began to systematically retake individual buildings which were being defended by cut-off groups of Russian military and security forces. By the war's final ceasefire, the main FSB office was one of the few key structures still being held by federal forces in central Grozny, but at the cost of 70 of its defenders' lives in some of the fiercest fighting during the last battle.[41][42]

Allegations arose, following the Khasavyurt Accord of August 1996, that the ATC carried out clandestine operations intended to discredit the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, so that it would not receive international recognition of its independence. According to Jonathan Littell, the service "... was most likely deeply involved ..." in many of the high-profile kidnappings which damaged Chechnya's reputation. Littell wrote: "It is impossible to say whether these provocations were part of a more general FSB policy or whether the [ATC] and its departments were running their own show; certainly it did not reflect the official policy of the government, nor of those officials like Ivan Rybkin, the Secretary of the Security Council, tasked with the Chechen dossier between 1996 and 1999."[5]

Alpha was active during the

crime against humanity, and that "Russia has the inglorious distinction of being a world leader in enforced disappearances."[47] Chechnya's UFSB also formed a local Alpha unit, believed to be similar in its role to the SSGs.[43]

Mass hostage crises

Alpha Group members during a training exercise in 2009

The group was instrumental in the Russian government's attempts to forcibly bring an end to a series of mass

Beslan school hostage crisis in September 2004.[16]
Each of these high-profile incidents resulted in hundreds of fatalities and injuries among the hostages and, with the exception of the Moscow siege, significant losses among the unit's personnel.

At Budyonnovsk (Budennovsk) in Stavropol Krai, two abortive storming attempts by Alpha and Vympel killed scores of hostages in a major public relations disaster for the Russian government, as the carnage was televised live across the country.[5][48][49] In the first, a pre-dawn raid, only 86 out of more than 1,500 hostages were freed, but more than 30 hostages were killed before the rescuers were forced to retreat after four hours of fighting, which also resulted in the deaths of several men on both sides.[50] After that, the leader of the hostage-takers, Chechen commander Shamil Basayev, agreed to release pregnant and nursing women, and to allow emergency services to put out a fire in the main building and to collect and remove dead bodies.[50] The assault was then resumed at noon and included the use of tear gas; it stopped after over an hour later when Basayev agreed to release the remaining women and children.[50] The overall death toll of more than 120 people included three Alpha members.[5] In the end, the crisis was resolved through negotiations that led to an agreement involving a ceasefire in Chechnya and high-level peace talks, both of which later broke down, with full-scale hostilities resuming in October 1995.[5][49] Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin claimed that both attacks had not been authorised by the government, but were launched by troops acting without orders.[51]

At Pervomayskoye, a small settlement on the outskirt of

better source needed] When the Alpha Group was deployed, they were sent in without winter clothing and quartered in unheated buses. One of the unit's commanders claimed they were "set up", saying: "The first day it was 15 below and we were standing in the fields with no warm clothes. There were no sleeping bags, no water, no food. The hostages were being destroyed, the rebels were being destroyed and we were being destroyed there. That's what happened."[54]

Several highly controversial actions made the force susceptible to criticism revolving around the loss of life among the hostages. One of these actions was the use of an

October 2002 Moscow hostage crisis, by knocking out the people inside the building. The FSB chemical attack resulted in the deaths of at least 129 hostages and serious damage to the health of many others,[55] yet was hailed by the group's officers as their "... first successful operation for years".[56] In 2011, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Russia to pay compensation to 64 survivors of the siege for their physical and emotional suffering, and to prosecute the officials who committed the human rights violations, ruling that the authorities had failed to minimise the risks to the hostages.[citation needed] Russia failed to uphold the ECHR ruling, paying the compensation to victims but not launching an investigation into the violations.[57]

Another controversy was the use of tank cannons, portable flamethrowers, and other weapons such as grenade launchers in Beslan, North Ossetia. On 3 September 2004, the local school was taken over by Chechen-led militants from Ingushetia, and was subsequently raided by the heavily armed FSB special forces of Alpha and Vympel.[58][59][60][61][62] The operation was overseen by the head of the Special Purpose Center, Gen. Alexander Tikhonov, who forbade extinguishing the fire in the school,[62] while the actual attack was personally led by Gen. Pronichev, and supported by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and attack helicopters. John McAleese, a member of the Special Air Service (SAS) team which had liberated the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980, immediately called it one of the worst hostage rescue attempts he had seen or heard about.[2] The Beslan siege turned out to be particularly bloody, costing the lives of more than 333 people, including 186 children (age 1 to 17), 111 relatives, guests and friends, 17 school staff members and 10 Alpha members.[63][64] No ballistic tests were carried out, and prosecutors were not allowed to examine the special forces' weapons to determine who exactly killed the hostages.[65] In 2007, 447 survivors and relatives of victims of the Beslan massacre brought a complaint against the Russian government in seven applications to the ECHR.[58]

In other post-Soviet states

Ex-Soviet regional Alpha units

In Belarus

Main article: Alpha Group (Belarus)

The Minsk territorial unit of Alpha continues to exist within the State Security Committee (KGB) of Belarus, known simply as "Alfa" («Альфа»).[66]

In Kazakhstan

The Almaty territorial unit of Alpha was turned into the special unit Arystan (meaning "Lions" in

National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan.[67] In 2006, five members of Arystan were arrested and charged with the kidnapping of the opposition politician Altynbek Sarsenbayuly, his driver, and his bodyguard; the three victims were then allegedly delivered to the people who murdered them.[68]

In Ukraine

Main article: Alpha Group (Ukraine)

Special Group "Alpha" is a branch of the Security Service of Ukraine; and a successor of the Soviet Union's Alpha Group.[4] It has continued to be informally called "Alpha".

Self-styled new units

In Georgia

Georgia established its own Alpha unit in 1992.[10] It was created as one of the three special forces units belonging to the Ministry of State Security, the other two being named Delta and Omega. In 1995, members of Alpha and the Minister of State Security, Igor Giorgadze, were blamed for the failed bombing attempt on the life of President Eduard Shevardnadze. After that, Giorgadze fled to Moscow, and Georgia's Alpha was purged and reorganised.[69]

In Kyrgyzstan

A special unit named "Alfa" Special Operations Executive (ASOE) was established within the

Second Kyrgyz Revolution. Criminal cases were brought to the court under the articles: 97 (murder), and 305 part 2 (exceeding the limits of authority).[70]

In Tajikistan

Main article: Alpha Group (Tajikistan)
FSB Alpha (ФСБ Альфа) reversible armbands

Equipment

As a 'Tier 1' force, Alpha Group operators have access to a wide array of small arms.

Assault rifles
Light machine guns
  • PKP Pecheneg
  • PKM
Sniper and designated marksman rifles
Submachine guns and personal defense weapons
Handguns

See also

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Ibp Usa, Russia Foreign Policy and Government Guide, page 113.
  2. ^ a b c d Botched operation was a disaster waiting to happen, The Guardian, 4 September 2004.
  3. ^ a b c "История Группы "А"". Alphagroup.ru. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-275-96688-1
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Early Yeltsin Years". Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) by Jonathan Littell.
  6. ^ Hackard, Mark (17 April 2015). "KGB Spetsnaz & World War III". Espionage History Archive. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Международная Ассоциация Ветеранов Подразделений Антитеррора "Альфа"". Alfa.org.ua. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Операции Группы "А"". Alphagroup.ru. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  9. ^ Account Given of Embassy's Fatal Explosion, Washington Post, 30 March 1979.
  10. ^ a b c d e David Cox, Close Protection: The Politics of Guarding Russia's Rulers, pages 60, 101, 106, 127.
  11. ^ Hackard, Mark (9 April 2015). "Spy Snatchers: KGB Alpha Group". Espionage History Archive. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  12. ^ Hackard, Mark (14 August 2015). "The Downfall of Agent Sphere". Espionage History Archive. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ^ "The End of the KGB". Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  14. ^ a b Jeffery T. Richelson, A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century, page 359.
  15. ^ How Soviet troops stormed Kabul palace, BBC News, 27 December 2009.
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85109-808-8
    .
  17. ^ "Article on Storm-333 at" (in Russian). Vpk-news.ru. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  18. ^ (in Russian) Baikal-79 by A. Lyakhovskiy
  19. ^ "Terrorist Organization Profile – START – National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism". Start.umd.edu. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  20. ^ "Hostages? No Problem Soviets Offer 'How-to' Lesson in Kidnapping". philly.com. 15 January 1986. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Вячеслав Лашкул. Бейрутская операция советской разведки » Чекист.ru". Chekist.ru. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  22. ^ Baltic fury over Austria's release of ex-Soviet officer, BBC News, 19 July 2011.
  23. ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia: The Baltic states demonstrate their unity over the release of Golovatov". Am.gov.lv. 19 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  24. ^ David Satter, Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union, pg. 18.
  25. ^ "September 1991 internal KGB report on the involvement of KGB in the coup". Flb.ru. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  26. ^ (in Russian) "Novaya Gazeta" No. 51 of 23 July 2001 Archived 15 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine (extracts from the indictment of the conspirators).
  27. ^ (in Russian) Timeline of the events, by Artem Krechnikov, Moscow BBC correspondent Archived 27 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ Argumenty i Fakty, 15 August 2001. [dead link]
  29. ^ "Dear clients of LLC private security company "ALPHA-B"! « ООО ЧОП АЛЬФА-Б – Частное Охранное Предприятие". Alpha-b.ru. 18 August 1993. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  30. ^ "Alpha Russian special service unit is as strong as ever". English pravda.ru. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  31. ^ Maj-Gen Viktor Karpukhin – Telegraph.
  32. ^ Gary Borg, Police Storm Bus, Kill Hijacker, Chicago Tribune, 15 October 1995.
  33. ^ "Hostage stand-in is killed. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 21 December 1997. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  34. ^ Agentura.ru – FSB Special forces: 1998–2010 Archived 18 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  35. ^ a b c d e Brian D. Taylor, Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689–2000, page 294.
  36. ^ a b c Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev, George Shriver, Post-Soviet Russia: A Journey Through the Yeltsin Era, page 127.
  37. ^ Margaret Shapiro, Army Shellfire Crushes Moscow Revolt; Dozens Killed in Assault on Parliament; Yeltsin Foes Surrender After Two-Day Battle, The Washington Post, 5 October 1993.
  38. ^ Serge Schemann, SHOWDOWN IN MOSCOW: The Overview; RUSSIAN ARMY ROUTS REBELS AT PARLIAMENT AS YELTSIN TAKES STEPS TO TIGHTEN CONTROL, The New York Times, 5 October 1993.
  39. ISBN 978-0-8225-1567-8
    .
  40. ^ John Pike. "Mozdok (182nd Heavy Bomber Rgmt)". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  41. ^ a b Olga Oliker, Russia's Chechen Wars 1994–2000: Lessons from Urban Combat, Issue 1289, pages 31, 77.
  42. ^ Antero Leitzinger, Caucasus and an Anholy Alliance, page 285.
  43. ^ a b c "The Security Organs Under Vladimir Putin". Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  44. ^ Fred Weir, Putin battles political fallout of Chechnya fight, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2003.
  45. ^ Mariya Y. Omelicheva, Counterterrorism and Human Rights, page 132.
  46. ^ Mark Franchetti, "Russian death squads 'pulverise' Chechens", Sunday Times, 26 April 2009.
  47. ^ Chechnya suffering crimes against humanity: HRW – Daily Times Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  48. ^ Sebastian Smith, Allah's Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya, New Edition, pages 202, 213.
  49. ^ a b c d e f Robert W. Schaefer, The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad, pages 132, 136–138.
  50. ^ a b c Adam Dolnik, Keith M. Fitzgerald, Negotiating Hostage Crises With the New Terrorists, pages 46–47.
  51. ^ Andrew Felkay, Yeltsin's Russia and the West, page 123.
  52. ^ (in Russian) Пиар на крови десантников
  53. ^ John Giduck, Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy With Lessons For America's Schools, page 112.
  54. ^ Michael Specter, 10 Days That Shook Russia: Siege in the Caucasus, The New York Times, 22 January 1996.
  55. ^ Nord-Ost Tragedy Goes On, Moscow News 2004 N.41 – a discussion of the long-term effects of the anesthetic on the surviving hostages. Archived 29 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  56. ^ Troops bring freedom and death to theater of blood, The Guardian, 27 October 2002.
  57. ^ "Russia fails to uphold ECHR court ruling on 2002 terrorist attack, lawyer | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI)". Rapsinews.com. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  58. ^ a b FIRST SECTION | Application no. 26562/07 | Emma Lazarovna TAGAYEVA and Others against Russia and 6 other applications (see list appended) | STATEMENT OF FACTS (ECHR document about the siege).
  59. ^ Uwe Klussmann, The Beslan Aftermath: New Papers Critical of Russian Security Forces, Spiegel Online, 27 August 2005.
  60. ^ Yaroslav Lukov, Beslan siege still a mystery, BBC News, 2 September 2005.
  61. ^ Yuri Zakharovitch, Should Russia Share Blame for the Beslan Massacre?, TIME, 31 August 2006.
  62. ^ a b David Satter, Remembering Beslan: A crime against humanity., Forbes.com, 10.01.09.
  63. ^ Nick Paton Walsh, Frantic search for missing as Beslan begins to bury its dead, The Guardian, 6 September 2004.
  64. ^ "Захват школы в Беслане изначально планировался как теракт-самоубийство" [Beslan school hostage crisis initially was the suicide terrorist attack] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 22 December 2006. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  65. ^ Madina Sageyeva, Beslan – The Search for the Truth Goes on Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 18 August 2005.
  66. ^ (in Russian) О проведении тактико-специальных учений «Блок 2006» / 19 июня 2006 – КГБ Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  67. ^ Mariya Y. Omelicheva, Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia, page 119.
  68. ^ Kazakh security officers suspected of kidnapping, not murdering oppositionist., BBC Monitoring International Reports, 22 February 2006.
  69. ^ Aaron Belkin, United We Stand?: Divide-and-Conquer Politics And the Logic of International Hostility, pages 106–107.
  70. ^ «Alfa's» Special Operations Executive Role in the Bishkek's Events on April 6–7, 2010 Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Memorial, 16 November 2010.

General sources

External links

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