Three of six oil workers taken hostage by bandits released

Three of out the six oil workers who were taken hostage by bandits in November 2001 in the Khurikau village have been released. On Monday, August 19th, security officers released three of out the six workers of the Sevosetinneftegazprom concern who were taken hostage. Another three oil workers died in captivity from beatings and the inhuman conditions they were kept in.

When commenting on the results of the operation, Major-General Nikolai Britvin, the head of the federal security service for North Osetia, told journalists on Tuesday that, according to investigation data, the gang of kidnappers consisted of young people aged from 15 to 30 who were trained in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia and in Azerbaijan.

The men were kidnapped for ransom money which they needed for carrying out acts of terrorism in Russia.

Britvin stressed that the threads leading to the gang had not been lost and that its elimination was only a matter of time: "We shall look for the kidnappers, find and make them answer in the law-established order. It is of principled importance for us that the people see these monsters in the dock."