List of Second Chechen War Assassinations - Assassinations in North Caucasus

Assassinations in North Caucasus

• February 2, 2005 - Major-General Magomed Omarov, Dagestan's deputy Interior Minister, was assassinated in capital Makhachkala, when rebels ambushed his motorcade and killed him in the shoot-out. Omarov had coordinated all major anti-insurgent operations in the republic and had narrowly escaped another assassination attempt in 2003.

• March 22, 2006 - A group of assailants fatally shot Ruslan Aliyev, the chief administrator of mountainous Botlikhsky District of Dagestan, during a fierce gunbattle; Aliyev's vehicle was struck by gunfire in the center of Makhachkala] on the city's most guarded street. On March 10, Magomed Magomedov, deputy head of the republican Criminal Investigation Department, was killed in Makhachkala by a bomb planted underneath his car. Two days later, March 12, a senior officer from the Organized Crime Department was shot dead in Makhachkala, and another was killed on March 21 in the town of Buinaksk.

• May 17, 2006 - An explosion in Ingushetia killed seven people including among them the republic’s police chief and acting first Deputy Interior Minister Dzhabrail Kostoyev; the explosion was so powerful that his armoured SUV was thrown 20 meters by the blast and wrecked. The attack in Nazran was presumably committed with a car loaded with remote detonated explosives. On April 7, 2004, President Murat Zyazikov, a former KGB general, was lightly injured by a suicide car bomb, and he was saved by the armour plating of his Mercedes-Benz. On August 26, 2005, Prime Minister Ibragim Malsagov was wounded in a double bomb attack on his motorcade in Nazran which killed his driver. Dzhabrail Kostoyev himself had earlier become the target of several assassination attempts involving bomb and rocket attacks; two of his relatives including a brother, also a police officials, were killed in 2005.

• June 9, 2006 - Two officials were killed minutes apart in Ingushetia by gunmen wearing black uniforms, berets, and masks. The assassinations appeared to be another round of carefully timed attacks against the government. First, Galina Gubina, an administrator responsible for helping ethnic Russian families resettle in the region was gunned down. Then, Musa Nalgiyev, the commander of Ingushetia's OMON riot police, was killed as he drove his three young children to school. Nalgiyev's children were also killed, as were the commander's two guards. In recent weeks, rebels in Ingushetia have also kidnapped Magomed Chakhiyev, a lawmaker and the father-in-law of President Murat Zyazikov, and have attempted to kill Health Minister Magomed Aliskhanov. Galina Gubina earlier escaped an attempt on her life two years ago when a bomb went off under Gubina's car, severely wounding her.

• August 8, 2006 - A car bomb and gun attack killed prosecutor Bitar Bitarov in Dagestan and wounded his two bodyguards. A motorcade including the armored car carrying Dagestani Interior Minister Adilgerei Magomedtagirov was also fired on as it approached the scene to investigate, and two police officers accompanying him were shot and killed. After this, a second bomb went off around 20 meters from the site of the first blast, wounding three of minister's bodyguards and three civilians. The Interior Ministry said the attacks appeared to have been carefully planned, and the rebels claimed responsibility. The next day two hand grenades targeted the house of Ingushetia's Nazranovsky District prosecutor, Girkhan Khazbiyev, killing his brother and injuring 13 family members.

• August 29, 2006 - A former police chief of an anti-organized crime department in southern Russia was gunned down near a hospital in central Nazran and died at the scene. Akhmed Murzabekov, a district police chief in Ingushetia, was shot three times but survived a previous assassination attempt on August 23. The official said a rapid reaction group following Murzabekov engaged the attackers, possibly wounding one of them, but added that the assailants escaped.

• September 11, 2006 - Three army generals, including Chief of logistics of Russia's North Caucasus Military District, Major-General Vladimir Sorokin, died when an army Mi-8 helicopter crashed in a suburb of Vladikavkaz, killing at least 12. It had a three-strong crew and was carrying a group of 11 high-ranking officers, including Gen. Sorokin and a few other generals, who were taking part in a military exercise that had begun in the region of North Ossetia earlier in the day. The local rebel group Kataib al-Khoul, which has vowed to shoot down Russian military aircraft on September 7, accepted responsibility.

• July 21, 2007 - Gunmen in Karabulak, Ingushetia, killed Vakha Vedzizhev, a well-known figure in the republic and an adviser to Ingushetia's president on religious matters.

• July 26, 2007 - Khura-Magomed Ramazanov, a senior Islamic cleric in Dagestan, was killed by a radio-controlled bomb in Makhachkala. His driver was also killed and his bodyguard was wounded.

• January 12, 2008 - Two high-ranking officers were assassinated when their car came under fire in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The victims were the head of the region’s UBOP Anatoly Kyarov, and a senior officer of the OMON special police. Two other officers were injured and remained in critical condition. Rebels reported that the actual target for the assault was Chief of the FSB, Nikolai Patrushev.

• November 26, 2008 - Vitaly Karayev, the mayor of the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz, was killed by a gunman. An Islamist group claimed the murder.