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Ringleader killed in Dagestan involved in gas pipeline blasting, terror act preparations

The operation did not hurt civilians or law enforcers

MOSCOW, August 10 (Itar-Tass) — Tabasaran gang leader Israfil Ismailov killed in Dagestan was involved in the blasting of a gas pipeline and other crimes, a representative of the National Counter Terrorism Committee told Itar-Tass on Friday.

The 22-year-old militant was blocked in a private house. He was offered to surrender but started shooting and was killed in the gunfire exchange.

Ismailov, a native of the village Mamedkala in the Derbent district, joined the gang in 2009. The republican staff of the National Counter Terrorism Committee suspects him of numerous terrorist crimes, including the blast of a gas pipeline in Gedzhukh in January 2010, shooting at the police department in Mamedkala in June 2011, the murder of a huntsman in Gedzhukh in April 2012 and preparations for a terror act with the use of a handmade bomb – a 200-kilogram keg filled with explosives and metal pieces. The latter crime was prevented by the police in June.

A submachine gun, a handgun and several grenades were found on the clash scene.

The operation did not hurt civilians or law enforcers, the National Counter Terrorism Committee reported.

The Dagestani Interior Ministry said earlier that the operation was held on the outskirts of the village Ersi in the Tabasaran district.

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