Journalists Attacked and Beaten in Russia’s North Caucasus
NAZRAN, Ingushetia – A group of international journalists and human rights activists were reportedly attacked Wednesday by an unidentified group of assailants near the Chechen-Ingush border in Russia’s North Caucasus, according to various Western media outlets.
The incident appears to have taken place near the settlement of Ordzhonikidzevskaya in Ingushetia, just west of the border with Chechnya.
Preliminary reports indicate that three cars carrying a small group of men blocked the journalists’ minivan. The group then beat several of the reporters before setting their vehicle on fire.
Two of the journalists and the bus driver were hospitalized but their conditions were not immediately known, according to Timur Rakhmatulin, the regional leader of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
Members of the committee accompanied the group to the border. Several hours after the attack a group of camouflaged armed men attempted to break into and loot the committee's office in the Ingush town of Karabulak, the NGO’s lawyer Dmitry Utukin posted on his Twitter account.
Swedish and Norwegian nationals were among the group of journalists targeted in the attack, in addition to several reporters from Russian media outlets Kommersant, Mediazona and the New Times.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack and the exact meaning behind the incident remains unknown.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists released a stinging indictment, blaming Russia’s indifference to press safety and for fostering anti-media hostility in the country.
Ingushetia, a Muslim republic situated between North Ossetia and Chechnya, has seen a major uptick in violence in recent years.
Insurgent Chechen groups often take refuge in Ingushetia, moving freely among the thousands of refugees that poured across the border during the bloody independence wars the Chechens fought against Russia in the 1990s.
Russian authorities and Moscow’s FSB intelligence service frequently target the local population using cruel punitive measures aimed at rooting out rebel groups who are hiding in Ingushetia.
Loyalty to Moscow is often divided between those who swear allegiance Russian President Vladimir Putin and his local proxies in the North Caucasus and those who side with insurgent rebels and radical Islamic groups.
Tensions have been exacerbated in recent months as a result of Russia’s air strikes in Syria. Many in the region despise Moscow for having launched another military campaign that indiscriminately kills fellow Sunni Muslims, while others take umbrage at public disapproval of Putin and his local pro-Kremlin appointees.