Ossetian-Ingush conflict
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War in Prigorodny District
Map of the Prigorodny District inside North Ossetia
Date October 30, 1992 - November 6, 1992 Location Prigorodny District, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Borderland with Ingushetia Result Ethnic cleansing of ethnic Ingush from Prigorodny district by Ossetian militia
Belligerents
Ossetian militia and security forces Republican Guard Russian Army	Ingush militia
Casualties and losses
~52 deadcitation needed Unknown wounded	~600 dead[1] 939 wounded[2]
About 60,000 Ingush and 9,000citation needed Ossetian refugees

The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict refers to the inter-ethnic conflict in Prigorodny District, part of Russian federal subject of Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, which started in 1989 and developed into a brief ethnic war in 1991 between local Ingush and Ossetian military units.

According to Helsinki Human Rights Watch, the campaign of ethnic-cleansing was orchestrated by the Ossetian militants during the events of October and November of 1992 which resulted in death of more than 600 Ingush civilians and approximately 60,000 Ingush inhabitants expelled from Prigorodny District.^[3]

Origins of the conflict

During the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, part of Ingush territory was colonized by Ossetians and Russians. Russian General Evdokimov and Ossetian colonel Kundukhov in Opis No. 436 "gladly reported" that

the result of colonization of Ingush land was successful:
Ingush village Ghazhien-Yurt was renamed to Stanitsa Assinovskaya in 1847.
Ingush village Ebarg-Yurt was renamed to Stanitsa Troitskaya in 1847.
Ingush town Dibir-Ghala was renamed to Stanitsa Sleptsovskaya in 1847.
Ingush village Magomet-Khite was renamed to Stanitsa Voznesenskaya in 1847.
Ingush village Akhi-Yurt was renamed to Stanitsa Sunzhenskaya in 1859.
Ingush village Ongusht was renamed to Stanitsa Tarskaya in 1859.
Ingush town Ildir-Ghala was renamed to Stanitsa Karabulakskaya in 1859.
Ingush village Alkhaste was renamed to Stanitsa Feldmarshalskaya in 1860.
Ingush village Tauzen-Yurt was renamed to Stanitsa Vorontsov-Dashkov in 1861.
Ingush village Sholkhi was renamed to Khutor Tarski in 1867.

The Russians also built the fortress Vladikavkaz (ruler of the Caucasus) on the place of Ingush village of Zaur.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

In 1924 the Ingush Autonomous Oblast was created which included the Prigorodny district and part of Vladikavkaz, populated mainly by ethnic Ingush. In 1934 by the Soviet decree from Moscow, the Ingush Autonomous Republic was merged with Chechen Autonomous Oblast allocating Vladikavkaz territories of the Ingush to the newly created North Ossetia, leaving Prigorodny district under the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Republic. In 1944 near the end of World War II the Ingushes and the Chechens were accused of collaborating with the Nazis and by the orders of Stalin hundreds of thousands of Ingush and Chechens were deported to Central Asian and Siberia due to the alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany. Soon after, depopulated Prigorodny District was transferred to North Ossetia.^[13]

In 1957 the repressed Ingush and Chechens were allowed to return to their native land and Chechen-Ingush Republic was restored, however, leaving Prigorodny district under the control of North Ossetia. Soviet authorities prevented Ingush from returning to their territory in Prigorodny district; however, Ingush families managed to move in, purchase houses back from the Ossetians and resettle the district in greater numbers.^[14] This gave rise to the idea of “restoring historical justice” and “returning native lands” among the Ingush population and intelligencia which contributed to the already existing tensions between ethnic Ossetians and Ingush. Between 1973 and 1980 the Ingush voiced their demands of reunification of Prigorodny district with Ingushetia by staging various protests and meetings in Grozny.

The situation deteriorated in early 1991 when the Ingush openly declared their rights to the Prigorodny district according to the Soviet law adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 26, 1991, 3rd and the 6th articles on “territorial rehabilitation”. The law gave the Ingush legal grounding for their demands which caused serious turbulence in the region with free access to weapons resulting in armed conflict between ethnic Ingush population of Prigorodny district and Ossetian armed Militias from Vladikavkaz.^[15]

Armed conflict

Intercommunal violence rose steadily in the area of Prigorodny east of the Terek River despite the introduction of 1,500 Soviet Interior Troops to the area.

During the summer and early fall of 1992, there was a steady increase in the militancy of Ingush nationalists. At the same time, there was a steady increase in incidents of organized harassment, kidnapping and rape against Ingush inhabitants of North Ossetia by their Ossetian neighbors, police, security forces and militia.^[16] Ingush fighters marched to take control over Prigorodny District and on the night of October 30, 1992, open warfare broke out which lasted till November 6. While Ingush militias were fighting the Ossetians in the district and on the outskirts of the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz, Ingush from elsewhere in North Ossetia were forcibly evicted and expelled from their homes. Russian interior forces actively participated in the fighting and sometimes led Ossetian fighters into battle.^[17]

On October 31, 1992, a high-level Russian delegation arrived to stop the violence; however, the first deployment of Russian peace keepers did not begin until early November. Although Russian troops often intervened to prevent horrendous acts of violence by Ossetian police and republican guards, the stance of the Russian peace-keeping force as such was strongly pro-Ossetian,^[18] not only objectively as a result of its deployment, but subjectively as well. President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree that the Prigorodny District was to remain part of North Ossetia on November 2.

The hostilities and reprisals in North Ossetia produced approximately 590 deaths, 1,000 injured, 1,200 hostages among Ingush civilians and 65,000 Ingush and 9,000 Ossetian refugees.^[19]

Allegations of ethnic cleansing

According to Helsinki Human Rights Watch, war crimes and ethnic-cleansing were committed by Ossetian police and republican guards against Ingush civilians. Human Rights Watch produced numerous video and photo materials showing extreme brutality carried out by Ossetian police and republican guards against Ingush inhabitants of the District. The report on human rights violations and war crimes was drafted by the organization which was published in April 1996 with detailed description of massacres of the Ingush civilians which took place during the events of October and November.^[20]

Although pressure from Moscow and Russian-brokered Ossetian-Ingush agreement of 1995 finally induced the North Ossetian authorities to allow Ingush refugees from four settlements in the Prigorodny District to return to their homes, the return of most refugees has been blocked by the local government and only the Ossetians have been able to return since. Meanwhile, the former Ingush homes and settlements in the District have been gradually occupied by the Ossetian refugees from Georgia.

On October 11, 2002, the presidents of Ingushetia and North Ossetia signed "The Agreement for Promoting Cooperation and Neighbourly Relations" between the republics, in which Ingush refugees and human rights advocates invested much hope. However, the Beslan hostage crisis of 2004 hampered the return process and worsened Ossetian-Ingush relations.

References

See also

• Georgian-Ossetian conflict

External links

• Video materials produced by Russian television, showing brutal massacres carried out by Ossetian police and republican guard against Ingush civilians in November 1992
• Photo materials showing facts of ethnic-cleansing in the Prigorodny District
• [1]
• [2]