UFA, Russia -- Officials in Russia's mainly Muslim-populated region of Bashkortostan say they are investigating clashes with Chechens and local residents that took place over the weekend.
Bashkortostan's Interior Ministry issued a statement on October 1 saying that one resident of the village Temas was hospitalized with a stab wound, while two others were detained after several workers from the North Caucasus region of Chechnya battled locals on September 30.
Activists from Bashkortostan’s Bashqort cultural organization said that 10 Chechen workers were involved in an incident with local workers that was sparked by insults they hurled at a local woman.
Investigators from the regional capital, Ufa, have arrived at the village, along with Amir Ishemgulov, the World Bashkir Assembly's chairman, and Saidamat Musayev, Chechnya's envoy to Bashkortostan.
Ishemgulov and Musayev said that interethnic hatred was not the basis of the dispute, but Bashqort activists claim otherwise and are demanding that all workers from Chechnya leave the village.
Local residents have said a car belonging to Chechens and cabins they were housed in were burned to the ground during the clashes.
