Ingush police have charged five suspected militants arrested a year ago with ‘involvement in illegal armed formations’ and ‘illegal trafficking in arms, ammunition, and explosive devices’.

The five men, 29-year-old Umar Gagiyev, 45-year-old Amirkhan Sapraliyev, 24-year-old Movla Sapraliyev, 27-year-old Dzhabrail Gagiyev, and 28-year-old Khasan Sapraliyev, are all related.

According to investigators, from the summer of 2015 until their detention in May 2016, the men were members of militant group Yekazhevo Jamaat. According to Ingush police, the group was responsible for the 2010 bombing of a market in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, which killed 17 people.

At the time, police suspected the attack could be in retaliation for a special operation conducted by security forces in the Ingush village of Yekazhevo in March 2010. Eight militants were killed during the operation, including Aleksandr Tikhomirov, better known as Said Buryatsky, the group’s leader, chief ideologue, and a specialist in training suicide bombers.

The case has been transferred to the Nazran District Court.