MIA bans to give out bodies of militants killed in Shali

The bodies of the militants killed at night on January 30 in the city of Shali will not be given out to their relatives for burial, the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported. "In accordance with the federal legislation, the bodies of the terrorists will be buried in unmarked graves without notifying their relatives," a source from the MIA told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that last night two policemen were killed in the Chechen town of Shali. After the attack, a counterterrorist operation (CTO) was conducted, as a result of which three alleged attackers were killed; and the police have also confirmed that two civilians were wounded. According to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the killed militants were Yunus Mukaev, Sidik Dargaev and Beshto Emediev, while their actions were commanded by Magomed Rashidov, a native of Shali, who is in Syria for three years as a member of the "Islamic State" (IS) banned in Russia. After the CTO, law enforcers detained relatives of Mukaev, Dargaev and Emediev.

Residents of Shali report that families of the militants, killed in the shootout with power agents, were not allowed to commemorate them. "These families will have no tezeta (wake) ceremonies; moreover, all the males (relatives of those killed) were detained and taken away by power agents," one of the locals told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the opinion of some residents, the ban on giving out the bodies is against the norms and customs of Chechens and the Islam. "Neither our tradition, nor the Islam, prescribe mocking over enemies' bodies. Those who have committed a crime, are dead, but forbidding their relatives to bury them in a humanly manner is no lesser crime," Aslan, a resident of Shali, is sure.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.