2009 Nazran bombing

Last updated
2009 Nazran bombing
Map of Russia - Republic of Ingushetia (2008-03).svg
A map of Russia, showing the Republic of Ingushetia (highlighted)
Location Nazran, Ingushetia (Russia)
DateAugust 17, 2009
9:08 (UTC+3)
Target Police station
Attack type
 Suicide attack
Deaths25 [1]
Injured164
Perpetrators Caucasus Emirate [2]

The 2009 Nazran bombing occurred on 17 August 2009, in Nazran, the largest city of the Republic of Ingushetia in the Russian Federation. A suicide car bomber attacked police headquarters, and at least 25 people were killed and 164 injured. It was the most serious terrorist attack in Ingushetia in the early 21st century, where there had been social and political unrest related to independence movements.

Contents

The militant Islamist Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility for the attack.

Attack

At 9:08 a.m.(MSK) on 17 August 2009, an unidentified militant drove a GAZelle truck [3] into the gates of a police headquarters building in Nazran, Ingushetia's largest city.[ citation needed ] The attack occurred as police officers were lining up nearby for a morning briefing. [4] Policemen fired at the car, but were unable to stop it. [5] The blast, which reportedly had the force of 400 kg of dynamite,[ citation needed ] created a crater 4 metres (13 ft) wide and 2 metres (6.6 ft) deep, damaged the police headquarters building and nearby apartments. [3] It also caused ammunition stored in the police headquarters to explode. Twenty people were reported to have been killed and 138 were injured.[ citation needed ] The toll later rose to 25 killed and 164 wounded, [6] with 15 of the dead being Russian policemen and 10 being Ingush. [7]

According to the Republic's Deputy Interior Minister Zyaudin Dourbekov, police had received information on August 15 that a vehicle of this type was going to be used in a suicide bombing, but were unable to prevent the attack. [4]

Aftermath

The Ingush authorities announced a three-day mourning period. They promised to pay 100,000 rubles ($3,000 USD) and 50,000 rubles ($1,500 USD) in compensation to the families of those killed or injured.[ citation needed ] Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations dispatched a plane to Ingushetia carrying medical specialists and aid for the victims.[ citation needed ] Following the attack, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sacked Ingush Interior Minister Ruslan Meiriyev, saying that the attack could have been prevented. [5] "This is the outcome not only of the problems related to terrorist attacks, but also of the republic law enforcement agencies' unsatisfactory work," Medvedev said. [8] German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered condolences to those affected by the attack.[ citation needed ]

According to Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Prosecutor General's Office, the most likely motives for the bombings are revenge for the work carried out by the police against militants or an attempt to destabilize the situation in the region. [9] On 18 August Alexander Bastrykin said that the Federal Security Service (FSB) received information about the organizers of the attack. He refused to name the suspects at this stage, but said that they belonged to the same groups that had conducted similar attacks in recent years. Bastrykhin assured that the FSB was doing everything it can to solve the crime.[ citation needed ]

President Medvedev put Deputy Interior Minister of Russia, Colonel-General Arkady Yedelev in charge of all security and police operations in Ingushetia. [10] The pro-administration President of Ingushetia, Yunus-bek Yevkurov, who had survived an assassination attempt in June 2009, said the rebels' goal was to "destabilize the situation and spread panic" in Ingushetia and claimed that the West had a hand in the escalation in the North Caucasus with the aim to prevent Russia from reviving "its former Soviet might". [11]

On 19 August, President Dmitry Medvedev said that the continuing attacks against Ingush leadership, law enforcement officials and civilians must be dealt with severe punishment. He said that although external factors such as foreign funding for Islamist terrorists are also a concern, for the most part North Caucasus' security problems are the results of internal reasons such as corruption and socio-economic problems. "The roots are in the structure of our life, in unemployment, clans who could not care less about people and whose only concern is to how to divide the money poured in here, to get a contract and to settle scores with one another later, as well as corruption, which has really become very widespread among law enforcement authorities." [12]

On 21 August, the militant Islamist Caucasus Emirate group claimed responsibility for the attack. [2]

Background

In 2009, the violence grew in the North Caucasian republics of Russia [13] and terrorist attacks became more frequent. [14] Although Chechen separatist activity was confirmed to be diminished due to the heavy-handed security measures undertaken by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, violence in Chechnya has been replaced by Islamic insurgency in the neighbouring republics, Dagestan and Ingushetia. [14]

After the June attempt on President Yevkurov's life, there had been several incidents just days before the Nazran attack on 17 August. [14] Several other leading Ingush officials have been assassinated since June 2009, including Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Aza Gazgireeva, former Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev, the head of the Forensics and Investigations Center Magomed Gadaborshev, and Construction Minister Ruslan Amerkhanov.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazran</span> Former capital city in Ingushetia, Russia

Nazran is the largest city in Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital from 1991 to 2000, until it was replaced by Magas, which was built for this purpose. It is the most populous city in the republic: 122,350 (2021 Census); 93,335 (2010 Census); 125,066 (2002 Census); 18,246 (1989 Census).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingushetia</span> Republic of Russia in the North Caucasus

Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country of Georgia to its south; and borders the Russian republics of North Ossetia–Alania to its west and north and Chechnya to its east and northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Taziev</span> Ingush warlord

Ali Musaevich Taziev, also known as Akhmed Yevloev, Magomet Yevloyev, and Emir Magas; born 19 August 1974) is the former leader of both the Ingushetia-based Ingush Jamaat and as the military wing of the Caucasus Emirate. On 30 September 2006, Taziev was appointed to the post of commander of the Caucasian Front by the orders of Dokka Umarov. In July 2007, one year after Shamil Basayev’s death, Taziev became his official successor as the most high-ranking military commander in the rebel forces. He is believed to be personally responsible for the death of several local high-ranking security officials.

Magomed Khamitovich Khashiev, also known as Sokhib and Khattab, was the Ingush Emir of the Sunzhensky District and a militant in the Russian federal subjects of Ingushetia and Chechnya. He was connected with dozens of terrorist acts, including an attempt on the life of the President of Ingushetia, Murat Zyazikov. He was also one of the masterminds behind the Beslan school attack in September 2004.

In June 2000, the North Caucasian Chechen separatist-led Chechen insurgents added suicide bombing to their tactics in their struggle against Russia. Since then, there have been dozens of suicide attacks within and outside the republic of Chechnya, resulting in thousands of casualties among Russian security personnel and civilians. The profiles of the suicide bombers have varied, as have the circumstances surrounding the bombings.

The Nazran raid was a large-scale raid carried out in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia on the night of June 21–22, 2004, by a group of Chechen militants led by Chechen commanders Shamil Basayev and Dokku Umarov. Basayev's main goal, besides capturing a large cache of weapons, was a show of strength. The attack by Chechen fighters on the Ingush city of Nazran is associated with the bad attitude of the Ingush authorities towards Chechen refugees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilayat Galgayche</span> Islamist militant organization

Vilayat Galgayche, formely known as Ingush Jamaat, was an Islamist militant organization connected to numerous attacks against the local and federal security forces in the Russian regions of Ingushetia and Chechnya in the North Caucasus. Since 2007 it has been a part of the Caucasus Emirate and takes part in the Insurgency in the North Caucasus. The group is thought to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people, mostly policemen, military personnel and officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yunus-bek Yevkurov</span> Deputy Defence Minister of Russia

Yunus-bek Bamatgireyevich Yevkurov is a Russian colonel general and politician. For over 10 years he was the head of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev on 30 October 2008. The following day, the People's Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia, the republic's regional parliament, voted in favor of Yevkurov's appointment, making him the third Head of Ingushetia. He is a career soldier, paratrooper, and Hero of the Russian Federation who was involved in numerous conflicts where Russia played a key role, including Kosovo (1999) and Chechnya. On 22 June 2009, Yevkurov was seriously injured following a car-bomb attack on his motorcade in the city of Nazran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Ingushetia</span> 2007–2015 armed conflict in Ingushetia, Russia

The Insurgency in Ingushetia began in 2007 as an escalation of an insurgency in Ingushetia connected to the separatist conflict in Chechnya. The conflict has been described as a civil war by local human rights activists and opposition politicians; others have referred to it as an uprising. By mid-2009 Ingushetia had surpassed Chechnya as the most violent of the North Caucasus republics. However, by 2015 the insurgency in the Republic had greatly weakened, and the casualty toll declined substantially in the intervening years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs</span> Terrorist organization

Riyad-us Saliheen was the name of a small "martyr" (shahid) force of suicide attackers. Its original leader (amir) was the Chechen separatist commander Shamil Basayev. In February and March 2003, the group was designated by the United States and subsequently by the United Nations as a terrorist organization. After several years of inactivity, Riyad-us Saliheen was reactivated by the Caucasus Emirate in 2009 under the command of Said Buryatsky; following his death, Aslan Byutukayev became its new leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in the North Caucasus</span> 2009–2017 low-level armed conflict in Russia

The insurgency in the North Caucasus was a low-level armed conflict between Russia and militants associated with the Caucasus Emirate and, from June 2015, the Islamic State, in the North Caucasus. It followed the official end of the decade-long Second Chechen War on 16 April 2009. It attracted volunteers from the MENA region, Western Europe, and Central Asia. The Russian legislation considers the Second Chechen War and the insurgency described in this article as the same "counter-terrorist operations on the territory of the North Caucasus region".

Aza Adlopovna Gazgireyeva, also known as Aza Gazgireeva, was an Ingush jurist who served as the deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia. She was assassinated in Nazran on 10 June 2009.

Rashid Yakhyayevich Gaysanov, last name also spelled Gaisanov, is a Russian politician in the southern Republic of Ingushetia. He has served as the prime minister of Ingushetia under Ingush President Yunus-bek Yevkurov. He was further appointed the acting president of Ingushetia following an assassination attempt against Yevkurov in June 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Moscow Metro bombings</span> Islamist terror attacks

The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two female Islamic terrorists during the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro, with roughly 40 minutes in between. At least 40 people were killed, and over 100 injured.

References

  1. ↑ Investigators Seek Ingush Blast Plotters. The Moscow Times Issue 4214. 20 August 2009 Archived August 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 "Suicide Bombings Part of Tactical Shift by North Caucasus Rebels". Jamestown Foundation. 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  3. 1 2 Michael Schwirtz (August 17, 2009). "Suicide Bomber Rams Truck Into Police Station in Russia, Killing 20". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  4. 1 2 Abdullaev, Nabi (2009-08-17). "Ingush Police Got Tip About Deadly Blast". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  5. 1 2 "Many killed in Russia bomb attack". BBC News. 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  6. ↑ Death toll reaches 25 in bomb blast in Nazran – vice-pm Archived August 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine - ITAR-TASS. Accessed 2009-08-28. Archived 2009-09-07.
  7. ↑ Eurasia Daily Monitor, The Jamestown Foundation — August 19, 2009—Volume 6, Issue 160
  8. ↑ Stack, Megan (2009-08-17). "Bombing kills 20 in Russian republic of Ingushetia". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  9. ↑ "Russian regional leader wounded in bomb attack".
  10. ↑ Kremlin sends tough general to troubled Ingushetia. Reuters. August 18, 2009
  11. ↑ Caucasus suicide blast kills 20. The Financial Times. August 18, 2009
  12. ↑ "Terrorists must be dealt with "unceremoniously" - Medvedev (Part 2)". ITAR-TASS. 2009-08-18. Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  13. ↑ Urgent Need for Vigorous Monitoring in the North Caucasus. Human Rights Watch/Reuters, April 15, 2008.
  14. 1 2 3 Oliphant, Roland. "Welcome Back to Arms". Russia Profile. Archived from the original on 2009-08-22. Retrieved 2009-08-17.

43°13′00″N44°46′00″E / 43.2167°N 44.7667°E / 43.2167; 44.7667

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.