Russian police and special forces have conducted a complex raid in the city of Derbent, neutralizing a terror cell that had been planning a series of attacks during the May holidays in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan.
The first clash happened when police tried to stop a car for selective inspection and two men inside opened fire at the officers, injuring one. One of the attackers was killed in the shootout, while the second fled the scene and was later found in a nearby garage complex. Inside the militant’s car police found a pistol, ammunition and a grenade.
In the meantime a separate anti-terror operation was being conducted nearby, where special forces were blocking a private house where, according to intelligence, several members of a terror cell had been hiding. The suspects refused to surrender, instead opening fire at the officers, forcing them to storm the building.
During the operation a hand-made explosive device was set off inside the house, setting it on fire. Three militants were killed during the raid, the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement. Police confiscated a couple of machine guns, a rifle, ammunition and several grenades.
Investigating the plot further, police discovered a garage that belonged to the militants and was used as a workshop for creating homemade explosive devises, the committee reported.
A car stuffed with explosives was found inside, along with two bucket-bombs with shrapnel fragments and components for building more explosive devices. In the process of disarming, one of the bombs exploded, destroying the building. Nobody was hurt by the blast, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said.
“According to the data from the operation headquarters of National Anti-Terrorism Committee, [members of the ‘South’ terror group] were plotting a series of terror acts across the territory of the republic during the May holiday period,” the representative of the committee’s information center, Andrey Chatsky, said.