July 30, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Four people have reportedly been detained in connection with a recent attack on the headquarters of the Ingushetian branch of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
One Russian serviceman was killed and two others were wounded in the late July 27 attack on the base on the outskirts of Magas, the capital of the mostly Muslim republic located in the North Caucasus.
"Four men suspected of having attacked the FSB building in Ingushetia have been detained," Interfax-AVN quoted Ingush Prosecutor Yury Turygin as saying today. "We concluded that the attackers fired under-barrel grenade launchers and a hand machine-gun from a long distance. One Interior Forces serviceman, who served for the guard unit of the Ingush FSB office, suffered a fatal wound and died. There are no more deaths or injuries, and the building was not damaged."
Violent Response
Earlier reports said militants fired on the FSB base from the nearby village of Ali-Yurt, where the four unidentified suspects were detained after a police sweep launched the day after the attack. The website ingushetia.ru reported that at least 30 villagers, including women and elderly men, were beaten during the sweep.
Turygin denied reports that the republic's presidential administration headquarters was also targeted in the attack.
"The Ingush presidential building was not fired upon and was not damaged. I am at the scene of the incident now. Our investigative team is working here," Interfax-AVN, the Russian news agency's military news agency, quoted him as saying.
President Murat Zyazikov's motorcade came under fire on July 21, but no one was injured.
The attack on the FSB headquarters came just days after a major security sweep was launched in Ingushetia, a federal subject of Russia that borders the war-torn Chechen Republic.
SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and in-depth analysis on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia's North Caucasus by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Caucasus Report."
"Four men suspected of having attacked the FSB building in Ingushetia have been detained," Interfax-AVN quoted Ingush Prosecutor Yury Turygin as saying today. "We concluded that the attackers fired under-barrel grenade launchers and a hand machine-gun from a long distance. One Interior Forces serviceman, who served for the guard unit of the Ingush FSB office, suffered a fatal wound and died. There are no more deaths or injuries, and the building was not damaged."
Violent Response
Earlier reports said militants fired on the FSB base from the nearby village of Ali-Yurt, where the four unidentified suspects were detained after a police sweep launched the day after the attack. The website ingushetia.ru reported that at least 30 villagers, including women and elderly men, were beaten during the sweep.
Turygin denied reports that the republic's presidential administration headquarters was also targeted in the attack.
"The Ingush presidential building was not fired upon and was not damaged. I am at the scene of the incident now. Our investigative team is working here," Interfax-AVN, the Russian news agency's military news agency, quoted him as saying.
President Murat Zyazikov's motorcade came under fire on July 21, but no one was injured.
The attack on the FSB headquarters came just days after a major security sweep was launched in Ingushetia, a federal subject of Russia that borders the war-torn Chechen Republic.
RFE/RL Caucasus Report
RFE/RL Caucasus Report
SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and in-depth analysis on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia's North Caucasus by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Caucasus Report."