Gimry fighting

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Gimry fighting


caption=
partof=Second Chechen War
place=Near Gimry, Dagestan
date=January 2-January 5 2006
result=Rebel tactical victory
combatant1=
combatant2= Dagestani rebels
commander1=Adilgerei Magomedtagirov
commander2=?
strength1=Some 3,000
strength2=Up to 8 to 30
casualties1=At least 3 killed and 10+ wounded
Rebels claimed 50+ casualties
casualties2=None confirmed (Russians claimed blood trails)
campaign=Campaignbox Second Chechen War (guerilla phase)

Gimry fighting took place between January 2-January 5 2006, near the village of Gimry in Dagestan.

The battle

The fighting on a mountain between some 3,000 Russian troops, including 1,500 special forces on one side and a group of estimated up to eight armed rebels (or 30 according to the Kavkaz Center version). The government forces were led by the Dagestani Interior Minister Adilgerei Magomedtagirov (the Ministry said the militant group included suspects in a recent assassination attempt on the Deputy Interior Minister that left his son dead).

Despite heavy artillery and aerial bombardment all the fighters managed to escape the encirclement back to the village, leaving behind only an abandoned dugout. At least three OMON and Spetznaz servicemen died and more than 10 were wounded in a three-day battle, some of them possibly by friendly fire. According to the separatist website, more than 50 Russian troops were "eliminated". [ [http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/01/05/4348.shtml 50 russian enemy eliminated in Dagestan] Kavkaz Center, 5 January 2006]

The government's plans to pacify the village of Gimry were initially dropped because of the village's symbolical importance as the historical birthplace of Imam Shamil. The large-scale cleansing operation in the village was however carried out in the winter of 2007-2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=416&issue_id=3583&article_id=2370662 GIMRI RE-EMERGES AS ANTI-RUSSIAN STRONGHOLD IN DAGESTAN] The Jamestown Foundation, January 12, 2006
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5095926.stm Tough lessons in defiant Dagestan] BBC News, 19 June 2006