Hunt For Militants Forces Nalchik Residents Indoors

18 October 2005 -- Local television stations in the North Caucasus town of Nalchik today urged residents to remain indoors as security forces continued to hunt for militants still possibly hiding in the town after a series of attacks on 13 October.
Security forces sealed off parts of Nalchik and conducted a large-scale operation. Police say a shootout this morning resulted in the death of one militant and wounded another.

Russia's deputy prosecutor for the southern federal district, Nikolai Shepel, said militants involved in the attacks got some of their weapons from a regional office of the federal drugs-control agency that was attacked last December. He gave few other details.

"It is too early to speak about the results [of the investigation] because we have to prove in due process the involvement of those people in the attack on Nalchik," Shepel said. "So we are not giving any final numbers yet."

More than 130 people were killed when militants attacked several police stations, the airport, and government buildings on 13 October in Nalchik, the capital of Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria.

(AP/ITAR-TASS)

See also:

Who Carried Out The Nalchik Raids And Why?

Basaev Says He Helped Plan Nalchik Raid