War in Ingushetia

War in Ingushetia
Part of the Second Chechen War and North Caucasus Insurgency
Date21 July 2007[1] – 19 May 2015[2]
LocationIngushetia, Russia
Result

Russian victory

  • Insurgency largely suppressed with a few dozen militants remaining[2]
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Russia Vladimir Putin
Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov (2007–2008)
Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov (2008–2015)		 Ilyas Gorchkhanov (KIA)
Akhmed Yevloyev  (POW)
Said Buryatsky (KIA)
Arthur Getagazhev (KIA)
Casualties and losses
400 policemen killed (2005–2010)[3]
93 security forces killed (2010–2014)[4]		 182 killed (2010–2014)[5]
800 killed overall between 2002 and November 2008[6]
71 civilians killed (2010–2014)[7]

The War 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;[6] others have referred to it as an uprising.[8] By mid-2009 Ingushetia had surpassed Chechnya as the most violent of the North Caucasus republics.[9] However, by 2015 the insurgency in the Republic had greatly weakened, and the casualty toll declined substantially in the intervening years.[2][10]

History

On 26 July 2007, a massive security operation was launched in Ingushetia, sparked by a series of attacks[11] including an assassination attempt on President Murat Zyazikov five days earlier.[1] Moscow sent in an additional 2,500 MVD troops, almost tripling the number of special forces in Ingushetia.[12] In the next few days, hundreds of men were rounded up in the sweeps, while several security officers were killed and wounded in the continued attacks.[11] By October 2007, police and security forces in Ingushetia were issued orders to stop informing the media of any "incidents of a terrorist nature."[13]

In 2008, Magomed Yevloyev, owner of the highly critical opposition website Ingushetia.ru, was killed while in police custody. The aftermath of the killing was marked by an upsurge in separatist activity and animosity towards Russia and Russians among the Ingush population. At the center of this controversy was the deeply unpopular President Murat Zyazikov, a former KGB general who was criticized both by human rights groups and by some in the Russian government.[14] The Ingush Interior Minister Musa Medov was targeted by a suicide bomber in October 2008.[15] Eventually, Zyazikov was asked to resign. On 30 October 2008, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to remove Zyazikov from office and replace him with Lieutenant Colonel Yunus-bek Yevkurov.[16] This was hailed by the Ingush opposition as a victory.

However, the violence did not end. According to police sources, nearly 50 people (including 27 rebels, 18 policemen and two civilians) died in the almost daily clashes in this small republic (less than 500,000 inhabitants) in the first three months of 2009.[17] Assassinations and attempted assassinations of high-profile figures continued. On 10 June 2009 Aza Gazgireeva, the Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia, was gunned down,[18] and on 13 June former Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev was shot dead outside his home.[19] Ingush President Yevkurov was seriously wounded in a suicide bomb attack on 22 June,[18] and Construction Minister Ruslan Amerkhanov was shot dead in his office in August.[20] In October 2010, the Ingush branch of the Islamist Caucasus Emirate group announced a moratorium on killing police officers; according to President Yevkurov, 400 police officers had been killed in Ingushetia in the five years to 2 October 2010.[3]

After 2010, the levels of violence in Ingushetia began to decline,[21] this trend continued, with total casualties in the Republic falling by over 60 percent from 2013 to 2014.[10] In 2014, the insurgency's leader Arthur Getagazhev was killed by security forces. In mid-2015, Yevkurov stated that the insurgency in the Republic had been 'defeated'. He said that 80 fighters from the group had turned themselves in and been given amnesty and that the remaining active insurgents were greatly reduced in numbers.[2] Reasons suggested for this decline, which was reflected more broadly throughout the Insurgency in the North Caucasus, included the deaths of high-ranking insurgency commanders, the increased targeting by security forces of the support infrastructure relied on by the insurgents, and an exodus of insurgents to other conflict zones.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Suspects Detained In Ingushetia After Attack On FSB
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Yevkurov Says Insurgency 'Defeated' In Ingushetia". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Ingushetia Militants Announce Moratorium On Killing Police". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  4. ↑ 50 killed (2010–2011), 33 killed (2012), 6 killed (2013), 4 killed (2014), total of 93 reported killed
  5. ↑ 103 killed (2010–2011), 40 killed (2012), 39 killed (2013–2014), total of 182 reported killed
  6. 1 2 Galpin, Richard. Ingushetia in 'state of civil war', BBC News, 23 November 2008
  7. ↑ 51 killed (2010–2011), 11 killed (2012), 7 killed (2013), 2 killed (2014), total of 71 reported killed
  8. ↑ Blomfield, Adrian (1 September 2008). "Russia faces new Caucasus uprising in Ingushetia". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  9. ↑ Bigg, Claire. Five Years After Nazran, Ingushetia Still Plagued By Militant Violence, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 19 June 2009
  10. 1 2 3 "Why Is The Death Toll Tumbling In The North Caucasus?". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  11. 1 2 Russia: Security Sweep Fails To Stem Violence In Ingushetia
  12. ↑ Violence escalates in turbulent Russian region
  13. ↑ "Russia: Moscow Says It Will Punish U.S. TV Network Over Basaev Interview". RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty. August 3, 2005.
  14. ↑ Vatchagaev, Mairbek (6 November 2008). "The Demise of Murat Zyazikov". Jamestown.org. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  15. ↑ Abdullaev, Nabi (1 October 2008). "Suicide Bomber Fails In Nazran Attack Bid". Moscow Times. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  16. ↑ "Zyazikov Steps Down". North Caucasus Analysis. The Jamestown Foundation. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  17. ↑ Dozens dead in Russian insurgency, BBC News, 17 April 2009
  18. 1 2 "Attack on Russian regional leader". BBC News. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  19. ↑ "Another Killing in Region Bordering Chechnya". New York Times. Associated Press. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  20. ↑ Minister shot dead in restive Ingushetia, France24, 13/08/2009
  21. ↑ "Russian Economist Denounces Yevkurov's Record in Ingushetia". Jamestown Foundation. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
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