Regions and territories: Ingushetia

Sun Oct 19 14:38:19 UTC 2008

There is a lot going on now in Ingushetia.  Russian media is silent about it.

Here is the latest news:

Ambush in Ingushetia: 50 infidels eliminated
Publication time: 18 October 2008, 20:40

Conflicting reports about the fierce clashes which occurred in the  
area of settlements of Galashki, Muzhichi, Alhasty, and Surhohi were  
coming during the whole day of Saturday from the Province of  
Ghalghaycho (Ingushetia).

Kavkaz Center's source reported that approximately at 9:50 local time  
the Mujahideen attacked a military convoy of Russian infidels, which  
consisted of BTR armored vehicles and URAL military trucks, in  
vicinity of the village of Galashki.

In the course of nearly an hour-long battle Mujahideen managed to  
destroy more than 50 Russian infidels and several pieces of military  
equipment, including BTRs and URALs.

Sources from among the anti-Zyazikov's opposition referring to the  
local correspondent reported in their turn that Russian infidels lost  
up to 50 invaders, 3 BTR armored personnel carriers, 2 URAL military  
trucks and 2 UAZ army jeeps in the ambush.

According to these sources, at least 1 URAL truck has been destroyed  
together with all the Russian invaders on board.

In the evening Kavkaz Center's source reported that among the infidels  
eliminated near Galashki at least 30 belonged to a gang called  
"Paratrooper-assault squad" members of which have arrived to  
Ingushetia from the Leningrad Region of Russia.

Sources inside the anti-Zyazikov's opposition have also confirmed that  
dozens of infidels were eliminated in Galashki during the battle. It  
is said that an informant from the local puppet "Ministry of Internal  
Affairs" shared this information.

Meanwhile, approximately at 10 AM local time, another group of the  
Mujahideen attacked russian military convoy on the road of  
Alhasty-Surkhokhi.

It has been reported later by invaders themselves. The occupational  
command initially claimed that only 2 infidels were killed and 2  
others seriously wounded as a result of this attack. Yet in the  
afternoon infidels stated that 2 were killed while 10 others were  
wounded and noted that the battle was still going on. Towards the  
evening it was announced that fighting has stopped and that the  
Mujahideen have pulled back into the forests close by and also that an  
attempt of invaders to locate their current positions has failed.

Some details of this operation have been made public. It is said that  
while the fighting at Alhasty was going on russians sent another  
convoy on a rescue mission but the Mujahideen have ambushed it and  
prevented them from reaching the place of the battle.

Sources inside local opposition reported about 3 bodies and 1 badly  
injured brought to the hospital. In the evening of Saturday two more  
bodies of infidels were brought there.

Losses of occupational troops might prove to be much bigger. This is  
indirectly confirmed by the local puppet sources.

They admit the fact that grenade launchers and machine guns were used  
by the Mujahideen to carry out the ambush. It was stated by the local  
puppets that accurate data on the number of eliminated infidels is not  
known to them.

http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2008/10/18/10258.shtml

Quoting Harold Schiffman <haroldfs at gmail.com>:

>    Wednesday, 12 March 2008
>
>
> Regions and territories: Ingushetia
>     [image: Map of Ingushetia and area]
>
>   *The Republic of Ingushetia in the Russian North Caucasus borders on
> Georgia to the south. *
>
> Its neighbours within Russia are Chechnya and North Ossetia. The
> overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim and clan links are an
> integral part of society.
>
> *History*
>
> The Ingush and Chechen peoples have close historical, cultural and
> linguistic ties, although the Ingush have not shared in the fierceness of
> the resistance to Moscow put up by the Chechens over the past 200 years.
>
> Part of the Russian empire since the early 19th century, Ingushetia was
> formally joined to Chechnya under Soviet rule in 1936 when it formed around
> one-fifth of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic within Russia.
>
> Like the Chechens, the Ingush, despite their history of relative loyalty to
> Moscow, were deported to Central Asia towards the end of World War II by
> Stalin who accused them of collaborating with the Nazis. They were allowed
> to return only in 1957 when Khrushchev was Soviet leader.
>
> There was tension after Dzhokhar Dudayev came to power as Chechen leader in
> 1991. When he declared Chechen sovereignty the Ingush resisted. There was
> some fighting along the border between the two regions and Russian troops
> were sent in to establish order. The Ingush subsequently voted in a
> referendum to form the Republic of Ingushetia within Russia. Although firmly
> tied to Moscow, the republic has its own anthem and state symbols.
>
> The Ingush and North Ossetians have a history of rivalry. Ingushetia lays
> claim to the neighbouring Prigorodny district which was included in the
> Russian Republic of North Ossetia when Stalin deported the Ingush in 1944.
> For many years after their return, the district had a substantial Ingush
> population.
>
> *Post-Soviet period*
>
> In late 1992 violence erupted in Prigorodny district. The two sides have
> fundamental differences as to the reasons. The North Ossetians assert that
> it was sparked by Ingush radicals seeking to include Prigorodny in the newly
> formed Republic of Ingushetia. The Ingush assert that the North Ossetians
> attacked first and that they acted in self defence.
>
> The fighting left many dead. Moscow sent troops to establish order. The
> Ingush population was expelled from the district and Ingushetia faced its
> first post-independence refugee crisis. Tensions persist and there are
> differences as to how many refugees have returned home.
>  [image: Chechen refugees in Sputnik refugee camp near Sleptsovskaya,
> January 2000] Ingushetia has hosted thousands of refugees fleeing violence
> in Chechnya
>
> Another refugee crisis presented itself when thousands of Chechens fled
> across the border into Ingushetia when Russian troops returned to Chechnya
> in 1999. The last refugee camp was reported to have been closed five years
> later. Russia rejected concerns voiced by human rights groups that many of
> the former residents had been forcibly repatriated in Moscow's zeal to
> expunge indications of continuing conflict in the area.
>
> Ingushetia lives in the shadow of the violence and lawlessness of its
> Chechen neighbour and poverty is widespread. From time to time, the violence
> has spilled over the border and Russian forces are regularly targeted by
> attackers.
>
> There was a major escalation in June 2004 when several dozen people,
> including the Ingush acting interior minister, were killed in attacks
> reported to have involved hundreds of gunmen armed with grenades and
> rockets.
>
> Russian forces have since launched several raids against suspected rebel
> hideouts in Ingushetia in which there have been numerous deaths.
>
> *Ingushetia facts:*
>
>
>    - *Territory:* Ingushetia
>    - *Status:* Semi-autonomous region of Russia
>    - *Status:* Republic within Russian Federation
>    - *Population:* 300,000
>    - *Religion:* Islam
>    - *Capital:* Magas (previous capital was nearby Nazran)
>    - *Languages:* Ingush, Russian
>    - *Currency:* Rouble
>
>   *President: Murat Zyazikov*
>
> Murat Zyazikov, then a general in the Russian security service and deputy to
> the Russian president's envoy in the region, was first elected Ingush
> president in April 2002. A key rival was disqualified on a technicality.
>  [image: Ingushetia's President Murat Zyazikov] President Murat Zyazikov,
> regarded as a close ally of President Putin
>
> Mr Zyazikov was reappointed for a further term in June 2005 under new
> Russian legislation. In line with the new procedure, Mr Putin proposed Mr
> Zyazikov to the Ingush parliament which approved him in the post.
>
> He had faced mounting calls for his resignation earlier in the year from
> opposition groups which accuse him of presiding over a system rife with
> corruption and of failing to take action to resolve refugee and other
> disputes with neighbouring North Ossetia.
>
> In March 2007, the president sacked his government, amid an increase in
> attacks on the republic's authorities. He gave no official reason apart from
> calling for more economic and social reform.
>
> Mr Zyazikov was slightly injured when a car packed with explosives crashed
> into his motorcade in April 2004.
>
> An ethnic Ingush, he was born in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia in 1957. He is
> married and has three sons.
>
>
> --
> =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
>
> Harold F. Schiffman
>
> Professor Emeritus of
> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
> Dept. of South Asia Studies
> University of Pennsylvania
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
>
> Phone:  (215) 898-7475
> Fax:  (215) 573-2138
>
> Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
> http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
>
> -------------------------------------------------
>