Deadly clashes in Russia's Dagestan

22/03/2009| IslamWeb

At least five soldiers and several anti-government fighters have been killed in clashes in the Dagestan region.

Clashes between government security forces and armed opposition groups started on Thursday in the Karabudakhkentsky district, about 30km south of the regional capital Makhachkala.

The bodies of 10 fighters were reportedly found after security forces pounded their positions using mortars and helicopter gunships. Four others were shot dead as they drove their car through Makhachkala late on Friday.

Vesti-24 showed four bodies lying among shattered glass near a battered, white Lada car.

'Foreign fighters'

Adilgirei Magomedtagirov, Dagestan's interior minster, said a collection of Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and a sniper rifle were found where the fighters were "hiding in the mountains".

"There are at least three non-Russians with Arab nationality amongst the dead militants, perhaps even four," he said.

Fighting continued overnight as security forces scoured the hills south of Makhachkala.

Analysts have suggested that attacks on security forces could intensify as economic problems and heavy-handed police tactics push many young men to join the fighters.

Predominantly Muslim Dagestan, with a population of more than 2.5 million, is in the North Caucasus between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea.

PHOTO CAPTION

Map locating the Republic of Dagestan

Al-Jazeera