A Dagestani militant commander believed to have joined forces with terrorist organization the Islamic State has been killed by Russian security forces, according to a statement released by the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC).
Khasmagomed Charanov had been the head of Aukhov, an insurgent group active in Dagestan's Khasavyurt district, according to the statement.
Officers of the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry located Charanov in a village in the district. As they attempted to detain him, he allegedly opened fire and was killed in the ensuing shootout.
"According to the NAC's data, he [Charanov] was involved in organizing several crimes, including numerous armed assaults on law enforcement officers and the extortion of large sums of money from businessmen," the statement said.
No law enforcement officers or civilians were injured in the operation, the NAC said.
Charanov will join a growing list of insurgents that Russian security forces have killed in recent months.
Last week, federal authorities reported they had killed Aliaskhab Kebekov, leader of the terrorist organization the Caucasus Emirate, during a special operation near the Dagestani town of Buynaksk.
In another statement, the NAC reported that two insurgents who had supervised an explosives laboratory in Dagestan's Karabudakhkentsk region were killed as security officers attempted to detain them. According to RIA Novosti, those two had also sworn allegiance to the Islamic State.
The Caucasus Emirate strives to establish an independent Islamic caliphate in Russia's North Caucasus between the Black and Caspian seas.
Russia has been battling an Islamic insurgency in the south of the country for more than two decades, since the first Chechen War erupted in 1994. During this time, Islamic militants and suicide bombers have committed numerous attacks in Russian cities, including Moscow.
Contact the author at i.nechepurenko@imedia.ru
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