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Russian police official says no more than 200 militants attacked Nalchik

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MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - No more than 200 militants, mostly young men, were involved in the attack on the North Caucasus city of Nalchik October 13-14, a senior police official said Friday.

"There were no more than 200 people involved in the assault, and they were mostly young men, whom I would call socially disadvantaged, if they were not criminals," said Nikolai Ovchinnikov, the head of the organized crime and terrorism department of the Russian Interior Ministry.

He said the fight against terrorism would be ineffective without also solving social problems. It is necessary, he added, to invest in the economy of the southern region to solve these problems and, thereby, prevent the unemployed youth from being recruited by terrorists.

Ovchinnikov said that police command and control groups, which had been formed in the Southern Federal District last September to coordinate anti-terrorism operations, proved effective in Nalchik and earlier in Daghestan, where they prevented terrorist acts.

Thirty-five security and police personnel were killed in Nalchik last Thursday when militants attacked several police and government buildings in the city, as well as the local airport. According to Russian officials, 91 of the attackers were killed and 36 captured in counter operations, which continued into Friday. A total of 138 units of weapons were confiscated.

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