In Dagestan, create a national special battalion

A new battalion of internal troops of Dagestan is formed from natives of the republic. According to experts, it will be able to use it, in particular, to protect the security of the leadership of Dagestan, as well as operations in the mountains on the border with Georgia, reports BBC.

The special battalion will be deployed in Kaspiysk, where a fortified base is already being built for it. A new formation is being created on the instructions of the President of Russia in response to the request of Magomedsalam Magomedov, the head of Dagestan, in August 2010 to form national divisions in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the republic.

As the head of the press service of the Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Colonel Vasily Panchenkov, said: "We hope that the servicemen who serve in the battalion will be helped to carry out their service and combat tasks assigned to them with good knowledge of the peoples of the republic, mentality and customs of the peoples Dagestan. "

The battalion has already recruited 300 people. In the future, it will serve up to 700 fighters, who will be recruited from representatives of all the peoples of Dagestan. According to Panchenkov, the experience of several years of operation of two similar special battalions formed from residents of Chechnya was taken as a basis.

The emergence of a military unit that is fundamentally new for Dagestan, according to a number of experts, may lead to an increase in the influence of that part of the local elite that can control the battalion’s leadership.