A Russian court sentenced two men to 24 and 16 years in jail for their role in organizing a September 2010 terrorist attack that killed 19 people in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz.
A suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives at an entrance to a central market in Vladikavkaz, capital of the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia, on September 9, 2010. More than 230 people were injured in the blast.
In a closed session on Thursday, the North Ossetia Supreme Court sentenced Ali Daurbekov, one of perpetrators of the attack, to 24 years behind bars, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
Daurbekov, member of a criminal gang operating in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, was accompanying the car driven by the would-be suicide bomber on its way from Ingushetia to North Ossetia.
Daurbekov agreed to cooperate with investigators. Among other charges, he was found guilty of illegal possession of arms, ammunition and explosives, and attempting at kill military and police officers.
Another member of the criminal gang behind the attack, Vakha Khashagulgov, was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security prison and a fine of 150,000 rubles ($4,800) on similar charges, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
In late April, another gang member, Magomed Latyrov, was sentenced to 19 years in jail over the bombing. Police say several members of the group are still at large.
Terrorist attacks targeting security forces and officials are common in the North Caucasus republics of Ingushetia, Dagestan and Chechnya, but neighboring North Ossetia has been spared the worst of the violence that has plagued its neighboring republics.
The Russian government has vowed to clamp down on militant groups operating in the North Caucasus while stepping up efforts to boost the local economies.