The 2004 Nalchik raid was an armed attack against headquarters of the regional branch of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) in

Nalchik Nalchik (, ; ; ) is the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwest of Beslan (Beslan is in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania). It covers an area of ...

, capital of the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n republic of

Kabardino-Balkaria Kabardino-Balkaria (), officially the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 904,200. Its capital is Nalchik. The area contains the highest mountain in ...

in the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

, which took place at about 3 to 6 a.m. of December 14, 2004. According to the investigation, six to ten attackers, possibly helped by former or current FSKN staff, entered the building without any resistance, shot dead four officers (two guards, a driver and a member of a special unit, all of them ethnic

Kabardins The Kabardians ( Kabardian: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; ) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Cir ...

, who were first captured and then executed in the basement), looted armory of rapid-response unit, and then set the office ablaze before driving away in a

GAZelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

minibus loaded with the captured weapons. According to an initial statements by the authorities, 36

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

s and 136

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

s were stolen in the attack. Later, however, figures for the lost weapons were put at 79 automatic and

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

s and 182 handguns of all kinds. It was the first-high-profile operation conducted by the local Islamist rebel group Yarmuk Jamaat after it has officially declared the beginning of

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

against Russia in August 2004. The attack however resulted a major crackdown against Yarmuk, resulting in several arrests and deaths of suspected insurgents, among them the group's first leader Muslim Atayev and his wife who were killed in a police raid the following month. The following year, police recovered many of the seized weapons in the wake of the

2005 Nalchik raid The 2005 raid on Nalchik was a Raid (military), raid by a large group of Islamic militants on Nalchik (pop. 250,000), in the Kabardino-Balkaria, Kabardino-Balkar Republic (KBR) of southern Russia, on 13 October 2005. A number of buildings asso ...

, and over half of the group's members were killed, or captured. Fourteen are the subject of a manhunt.

References

External links

Caucasus gunmen kill four in raid

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 14 December 2004
Nalchik Drug Officers Killed
,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, December 17, 2004 ('' The St. Petersburg Times'')
2 Held in Nalchik Attack

, 23 December 2004 (''

The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' (''MT'') is an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking to ...

'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Nalchik raid, 2004 21st-century mass murder in Russia 2004 mass shootings Attacks on headquarters Kabardino-Balkaria Terrorist incidents in Russia in 2004 2004 murders in Russia Battles involving the Circassians Battles involving the Karachay-Balkars Mass shootings in Russia Mass murder in 2004 Attacks on military installations in Russia Attacks on military installations in 2004 Islamic terrorism in Russia Islamic terrorist incidents in 2004 Looting in Russia Military raids Attacks on office buildings in Europe Building and structure arson attacks in Russia Arson in 2004 2004 fires in Europe December 2004 in Europe December 2004 crimes

See also

References

External links