East Prigorodny conflict

East Prigorodny Conflict
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 the Prigorodny district by Ossetian militia
Belligerents
North Ossetian militia and security forces North Ossetian Republican Guard South Ossetian militia Don Cossacks Terek Cossacks Russian Army 9th Motor Rifle Division 76th Guards Air Assault Division	Ingush militia
Commanders and leaders
Boris Yeltsin Akhsarbek Galazov	Ruslan Aushev
Casualties and losses
192 dead 379 wounded	350 dead 457 wounded
43,000–64,000 Ingush refugees 9,000 Ossetian refugees

The East Prigorodny Conflict, also referred to as the Ossetian-Ingush Conflict, was an inter-ethnic conflict in the eastern part of the Prigorodny district in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, which started in 1989 and developed, in 1992, into a brief ethnic war between local Ingush and Ossetian paramilitary forces.

"Human Rights Watch/Helsinki" takes no position on the ultimate status of the Prigorodnyi region. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki report investigates human rights violations committed by all parties to the conflict from 1992 to 1996, its major emphasis is on the events between October 31, 1992 and November 31, 1992, on the process of return for the displaced, and on attempts to bring to justice those who committed criminal acts connected with the conflict. The report also examines the Russian government's weak response to events leading to the armed conflict and its utter failure to prevent the destruction of thousands of homes and dwellings.

The present conflict emerges from the policies of both Tsarist Russian and Soviet governments,which exploited ethnic differences to further their own ends, namely the perpetuation of central rule and authority. Tsarist policy in the North Caucasus generally favored Ossetians, who inhabited an area astride the strategically important Georgian Military Highway, a key link between Russia proper and her Transcaucasian colonies. In addition, the Ossetians were one of the few friendly peoples in a region that for much of the nineteenth century bitterly resisted Russian rule; Ossetians shared the same Eastern Orthodox Christian faith with Russians, while the majority of the other ethnic groups of the North Caucasus were Muslim. Russian authorities also conducted population transfers of native people in the area at will and brought in large numbers of Terek Cossacks. Under the Soviets, local Cossacks (many of the early members of the Terek Cossacks were Ossetians) were punished for their support of anti-Soviet White forces during the Russian Civil War (1918-1921) and banished from the area, including from the Prigorodnyi region which was given to the Ingush, ostensibly for their support of the Red or Bolshevik forces during the conflict. Soviet administrators often arbitrarily created territorial units in the North Caucasus, thereby enhancing differences by splitting apart like peoples or fostering dependence by uniting different groups. In January 1920, the Autonomous Mountain Soviet Socialist Republic, referred to as the "Mountaineers Republic," was formed, with its capital in Vladikavkaz. Initially, the "Mountaineers Republic," included the Kabards, Chechens, Ingush, Ossetians, Karachai, Cherkess,and Balkars, but it quickly began to disintegrate and new territorial units were created. In 1924, the Ingush were given their own territorial unit that included the Prigorodnyi region. In 1934, the Ingush were merged territorially with the Chechens; in 1936 this territory was formed into the Checheno-Ingush ASSR with its capital in Grozny. The Prigorodnyi region still remained within the Chechen-Ingush entity.

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