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HR news |
"Cleansing Operation" in Stariye Atagi
On the 3rd and 4th of August 2001, in the village of Stariye Atagi a "cleansing operation" took place which was accompanied by robbery and theft. The "cleansing operation" was carried out by military personnel from Tolstoy-Yurt, Khankala and other places. Most of the military vehicle's number plates were smeared with dirt or were covered with rags. However, some of the vehicle's numbers were visible, the residents wrote them down, they are: URAL-1281 unit, URAL-2730, Armoured Carrier-660, UAZ-KB/13 XP/95 RUS, region 95 and 15, armoured carriers with numbers 601, 607, 136, 114, 103 and 133.
The "cleansing operation" began with the shelling of the village by tank artillery, several houses were damaged, and cars (belonging to L.Maaev, T Akhmadov, Y Shakhtamirov and others) were incinerated.
On the morning of the 3rd of August, a helicopter fired on women, who unaware that a "cleansing operation" was going on in the village were on the bridge crossing the river and heading for Stariye Atagi. It is a miracle that the women remained alive.
In the course of the "cleansing operation" 12 people were detained:
1. Lechi Akhmedovich Maaev, born 1956,
2. Lema Akhmedovich Maaev, born 1949,
3. Umar Lemaevich Maaev, born 1972,
4. Adlan Lemaevich Maaev, born 1970,
5. Ali Lechievich Maaev, born 1979,
6. Alu Lechievich Maaev, born 1980,
7. Zaurbek Sadaev, born 1940,
8. Lema Abdulaevich Yakhyaev, born 1960,
9. Aslambek Dudaev, approx. 38 years, a refugee,
10. Zajndi Sutaev, approx. 50 years,
11. Zajndi Eljmurzaev, approx. 40 years,
12. Ziyavdi Eljmurzaev.
From 7.00 am on the 4th August, military personnel shelled and burnt down a small mosque which is next to the Maaev's home on Uchiteljskaya street. After that a ransack began in the neighbouring dwellings: all the brother's Maaev and their neighbour's homes were robbed (Uchiteljskaya street 11, Tikhaya street 9, Sadovaya street 74, 64, 57, Nagornaya street 7, 8 and 4). The servicemen took everything that they considered useful for themselves: women's gold jewellery, money, video-audio equipment, televisions, ultrasound apparatus, computers, female underwear, clothes, shoes, head wear, video cassettes, photographs, documents (passports, student records) and others.
On the night of the 3rd- 4th of August at 23.30, the village was again subjected to tank bombardment. Houses were damaged, cars parked in the courtyard were destroyed. People weren't injured, because fearing an attack beforehand they had gone down into the cellars.
The servicemen did not let the cattle out to pasture for 2 days. 11 cows which somehow managed to get out to graze they shot from helicopters.
All the detained were held for 2 days in an old mill. Despite the fact, that the village women were by the mill for 2 days expecting the release of their menfolk, all were taken to Tolstoy-Yurt. The current situation of the detained is unknown. Relatives made for the the village of Znamenskoye in the Nadterechniy district of the Chechen Republic with a statement concerning this "cleansing operation" and the detained men.
