Militant gang attacks Chechen village

A gang of militants has attacked the Chechen village of Uluskert, kidnapping two police officers.

According to a source in the Chechen Interior Ministry, the republic's Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation and is searching for the kidnapped policemen.

The incident took place on the night of May 25, when a gang of up to 50 militants burst into the village of Uluskert, Shatoi district. "A group of bandits encircled the house belonging to Zulai Visingeriyeva, the head of the village administration," said the source. According to his account, they dragged the woman, her husband and their two sons into the street and started beating them, demanding the release of two natives, whom the police had earlier arrested on suspicion of being involved in militant activities.

Simultaneously, another group of militants kept searching through the village for six officers of the local police station. They eventually found two of them and took them off to an unknown destination. Arriving in Uluskert immediately after the attack, Chechen interior ministry officers could not track the criminals.