Militant activity in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan has experienced a significant upswing in the past week, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
“The [North Caucasus] region has registered a spike in militant activity in Dagestan where nine out of ten terrorist attacks were carried out last week,” the North Caucasus office of the ministry said in a statement.
The attacks targeted police officers, servicemen and small and medium businesses. They involved, in general, quick shooting raids tactics.
On September 16, militants sprayed a food store with automatic gunfire in Khasavyurt and killed a businessman in the village of Gubden the next day.
On September 18, militants attacked a shop in the village of Babayurt and set off a bomb near its entrance. A second bomb near the shop was disarmed later by demolition experts.
Overall, police killed a total of 23 militants, including six gang leaders, in the North Caucasus Federal District last week.
Eight insurgents were arrested and four surrendered to the authorities on their own will.
Police destroyed five militant bases and 17 weapons caches in the region.
An Islamic insurgency once contained largely to Chechnya has spread in recent years over North Caucasus, with attacks reported regularly in the neighboring republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia, as well as in Kabardino-Balkaria.