3 powerful explosive devices found in hiding place in Makhachkala

MOSCOW, May 15 (Itar-Tass) —— The police have found three powerful explosive devices belonging to organizers of the recent twin terrorist act in Dagestan’s capital city Makhachkala, a spokesman for Russia’s National Anti-terrorism Committee said on Tuesday.

“As part of the investigation into the criminal case opened after a terrorist act on May 3 in Makhachkala, a hiding place with explosives and weapons has been spotted in a car shed in Makhachkala’s Akushinsky Street. The hiding place was organized by gunmen who were behind the terrorist act that claimed numerous human lives. There were three ready-to-use home-made explosive devices with a total yield of 18 kilograms of TNT, as well as elements and workpieces of explosive devices, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a big number of cartridges, and a sawn-off hunting rifle,” the spokesman said.

The explosive devices were rendered harmless on spot because of high risks of them going off during transportation, the spokesman said.

“The liquidation of the hiding place is a visible result of efforts taken by law enforcement agencies geared to strip terrorists of possibilities to implement their criminal intents,” the spokesman said.

The twin terrorist act committed at the Alyaska traffic police post in Makhachkala on May 3 hurt 101 people, of whom 13, mostly police officers, were killed.

Following these terrorist acts, local security and police agencies have stirred up anti-terrorism efforts in the republic. Thus, seven gunmen were killed in a special operation that started in the republic’s Kizlyar district on May 10. Among these seven was Magomed Makhmudov, also known by the nickname Sheikh Muhammad Didoisky, who was resident of the Tarumovka village of the Tarumovsky district. According to the National Anti-terrorism Committee, he was a so-called “Sharia judge.” He had been convicted by the Tarumovsky District Court in 2000 and sentenced to three years' imprisonment for arms trafficking, but spent less than four months in penal facilities, after which was pardoned. Another liquidated militant Muslim Abdulmuminov, a native and resident of the Khutseyevka village of the Kizlyar district, until 2010 was an officer of the police patrol and checkpoint service of the Kizlyar internal affairs department. “Taking advantage of his official position, he ensured free passage through the Kizlyar district for the gang members. He was also engaged in unofficial gathering of information about his colleagues policemen, informed the bandits about their residence place, the numbers and makes of their private automobiles. The information was later used by militants to organize attacks,” according to the National Anti-terrorism Committee. Apart from that, a leader of the Sergokali gang, Abduslama, a Turkish native, was killed in a specla operation the Sergokali district.