NALCHIK. Oct 24 (Interfax) - The counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime in the Elbrus district in Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR) will be lifted at the beginning of November, KBR head Arsen Kanokov said, meeting with residents at the township of Elbrus in KBR on Monday.
"The CTO regime will most probably be lifted in early November but security forces will stay on," he said.
The lifting of the CTO regime will enable local mountain ski resorts to reopen for the winter season and start receiving tourists, he said.
The CTO regime was introduced on February 20 following the murder of a group of Moscow tourists and the blow up of a cable car road to Mount Elbrus. On February 28, the CTO regime was expanded to include part of the Nalchik district and a number of communities in the Chegem and Cherek districts.
The CTO regime and temporary restrictions in the Nalchik and Chegem districts were lifted on August 11 after crime situation there improved.