Russian Terror in the Mountains of Chechnya

High in the mountains of Chechnya, on the border with Dagestan and Georgia, the Sharoi district used to be one of the most peaceful in the country.

This is the most inaccessible parts of Chechnya, with narrow paths threading along cliffs and rivers winding below. Bears and wolves come out of the thick forests to attack cattle. The occasional houses, perched on high ground, are situated far from one another and only the villages of Sharoi and Kiri contain a dozen houses grouped together.

During the first Russian-Chechen War of 1994-6, the fighting did not reach here. But as the Russian aggression that re-started in 1999 has ebbed, Russian terrorism has actually increased in the Sharoi district.

Since 2004 men in masks have been bursting into our houses and taking people away," said Tumisha, a local resident. "They are Russian soldiers. Every month, we hear that someone was abducted there. It's frightening to live here."

Tumisha wants to leave her home district. "This will carry on for a long time," she said. "They won't calm down because they think that we are helping the Mijahideen. The people they take away come back beaten and crippled.

The Chechen Mujahideen military operations have been stepped up in the highlands of Chechnya but it is the civilian population that is suffering the results because the Russians are too coward to fight armed Muslims in direct military confrontations.

In the neighbouring Shatoi district on December 1, a bombing raid on the village of Sharo-Argun wounded two locals and left one woman with concussion. One house was completely destroyed and others were badly damaged. The Russian military has denied that the incident took place.

In Sharoi, in the last eight months, more than 20 people have been abducted from this sparsely populated district.

A resident of Kiri recalls what happened on the night of October 15. "We woke up from a terrible burst of shooting next door," she said. "Around 20 armed Russians in three cars crashed into the house of a local Muslim. They didn't just beat him but also his teenage children and his poor wife who had just had an operation."

Seven years ago, the Sharoi district had a population of 4,900 people, but now the number has dropped to 3,200. People are afraid to live here because of the growing number of abductions.

Bureau Report