Relatives of suspected militants from Achkhoi-Martan return home after exile

Older men, expelled from the Chechen village of Achkhoi-Martan for family ties with suspected militants, have returned to the village. However, they are afraid to leave their houses. This was reported by local residents. According to them, at present, those families are deprived of sources of income. They do not get pensions and benefits, and they cannot find any job.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 17, 2016, in Grozny, attacks on policemen were committed. During a special operation, seven suspected militants were killed. Then law enforcers started to detain relatives and acquaintances of the killed suspects.

Immediately after the attack, 72 people were forced to leave their houses, reports Ruslan, a resident of the village. In Achkhoi-Martan, the exile was initiated by religious figures and leaders of the local administration.

"All men were subjected to eviction, including even people with disabilities and sick people," noted Ruslan.

Those people spent four months in harsh conditions: they were actually wandering around. The current situation of the returnees is also cannot be treated as stable.

According to Ruslan, most of fellow villagers treat the people returning from exile with understanding and try to alleviate their fate.

Luiza, a resident of the village, has also added that a month and a half ago, the women of the men sent to exile wrote a letter to Aimani Kadyrova, the mother of the Chechen leader. They asked her to talk to her son to persuade him to allow fathers and husbands to return to their families.

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