The death is believed to be linked to a drive-by shooting in Ingushetia earlier this week
Police officers are seen at a checkpoint near the village of Kantyshevo in the Nazran district of the Republic of Ingushetia after an attack. © Sputnik/Press Service of Ministry of Interior Affairs of Republic of Ingushetia
A dead man found in the city of Karabulak in the southern Russian Republic of Ingushetia is believed to be connected to an attack on a police checkpoint earlier this week, local media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Ingush police suspect that the deceased individual was part of the gang behind the drive-by shooting, who got wounded and was left behind by fellow attackers, the reports say. According to a source cited by RIA Novosti, the flag of an international terrorist organization was discovered next to the body.
Images circulating on social media, which were purportedly shot at the scene, show a seemingly dead man laying on his back on a stack of construction materials, with the black flag of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) covering his chest.
The shooting happened around midnight on Monday on a road in the Nazranovsky District of Ingushetia, the police reported. An officer was taken to the hospital after being shot in the leg during the incident, but his life was not in danger.
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There are unconfirmed claims online that two other members of the same gang got trapped on Tuesday night in the neighboring Chechen Republic. There was a firefight in the city of Gudermes, which ended with the two suspected militants killed by law enforcement, local authorities said.
The operation conducted on the outskirts of the city lasted “mere minutes,” after the two individuals refused to surrender and tossed a grenade at officers, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on social media.
