January 15 2005 sieges in Dagestan

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=January 15 2005 sieges in Dagestan


caption=
partof=Second Chechen War
place=Makhachkala and Kaspiysk, Dagestan
date=January 15 2005
result=Russian tactical victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Arzulum Ilyasov † and others
commander2=Magomedzagir Akayev †
strength1=?
strength2=8
casualties1=4 killed
casualties2=6 killed and 1 captured
campaign=Campaignbox Second Chechen War (guerilla phase)

January 15 2005 sieges were two raids of the Russian security forces on a militant Islamist group's safehouses in Dagestan. At least four Russian commandos and six rebels died in the clashes, while one was captured. The group, called Shariat Jamaat, previously killed 29 members of the Dagestani department for fighting extremism and criminal terrorism, including its chief Akhberdilav Akilov.

ieges

Makhachkala

In the first incident, the government forces surrounded a group of five rebel fighters in a two-story house on the outskirts of Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan. For 17 hours, the rebels battled Russian special forces supported by armoured vehicles and a helicopter, killing one of elite Alpha Group commandos and wounding another. In the end a tank belonging to the Russian Marines smashed the remains of the burned and gutted house. The authorties claimed that among the five bodies recovered from the ruins was the Jennet leader Rasul Makasharipov, but it turned out to be incorrect when Makasharipov resurfaced four days later.

Kaspiysk

In a separate clash this day, special police task force stormed another house in Dagestan's port of Kaspiysk to arrest a separate group of militants. Three SOBR officers were killed in the attempt, including group commander Colonel Arzulum Ilyasov. One rebel was killed (50-year-old commander Magomedzagir Akayev) and one wounded and captured, while the third one escaped (according to some reports two were captured).

External links

* [http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2005/01/16/3447.shtml The Combat in Makhachkala] , Kavkaz Center, 16 January 2005
* [http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details_print.cfm?id=10578 Dagestani officials avert major 'terror attacks’] , ISN, 17 January 2005
* [http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/14830_dagestan.html War breaks out in Russia's Dagestan] , "Pravda", 18.01.2005
* [http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=174213&apc_state=henicrs2005 Battle Hits Dagestan Capital] , IWPR, 19-Jan-05
* [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3203&article_id=2369116 SECURITY FORCES BATTLE MILITANTS IN DAGESTAN] , The Jamestown Foundation, January 19, 2005