The Chechen-language department of US Radio Free Europe reports that it had been contacted by a representative of CE Mujahideen named Abu Khamza who said that the leadership of the Caucasus Emirate was well informed about recent clashes near the border between Georgia and Caucasus Emirate province of Dagestan, which caused fatalities among Mujahideen and Georgian soldiers.
"All the necessary information is being gathered now. There should be a thorough investigation into the causes that led to such consequences. Only then we can make an official statement with conclusions and assessments of what happened", Abu Khamza said in an interview to Radio Free Europe.
It is to be recalled that according to the version of Georgian authorities, a squad of Mujahideen consisting of 17 fighters, whom Tbilisi claims a sabotage unit, supposedly entered Georgia from Dagestan. As a result of the battle in the Lopota George, 11 Mujahideen and 3 Georgian commandos were killed.
Georgian Interior Ministry reported names of 7 killed Mujahideen. Among them were at least two Georgian citizens, ethnic Chechens Kistinians, residents of the Pankisi Gorge, as well as the natives of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.
In turn, the sources of KC reported that actually a detachment of recruits, secretly formed by the command of the Mujahideen on the border between Dagestan and Georgia, moved to a destination site on the territory of Dagestan to take part in the fighting against Russian occupation forces.
A leakage of information about the group's route occurred at the last stage of the operation. Georgian authorities immediately sent a large number of their special forces backed by helicopters against the unit of the recruits. The Mujahideen did not have any targets in Georgia.
The Georgian command entered into negotiations with the Mujahideen and invited them to lay down arms
During the negotiations, which lasted more than a day, the recruited Mujahideen refused to lay down arms and offered the Georgian authorities not to aggravate the situation, unblock the route for their further movement and to allow them to leave without hindrance the territory of Georgia. After the negotiations stalled, a battle started.
The Mujahideen squad did not take hostages from among the civilian Georgian population. It is because the recruits released five Georgians, whom they incidentally met en route, the leakage occurred followed by subsequent tragic events.
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
Our button
print version
