PYATIGORSK. Nov 1 (Interfax) - More than 3,500 militants have been killed in the North Caucasus since the beginning of 2003, according to North Caucasus Federal District police department chief Sergei Chenchik.
"Approximately 8,000 members of illegal armed units were detained over the same period," he said at a seminar of the commanders of counter-extremism units of the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts.
At least a third of the militants had children who were not socially adapted, Chenchik said, adding that the police had been monitoring the social and psychological condition of families of operating and dead militants, especially children and teenagers, for a number of years.
A substantial number of these children and teenagers have been attending Islamic schools and ignoring general education, Chenchik said.
"Dagestan has 332 Islamic schools, but only 49 non-governmental religious schools are officially registered and 39 of them have no education licenses," the North Caucasus police chief said.
An analysis of operative information shows an increasing support for radical Islam, especially amongst the younger generation, he said.
"This problem is topical in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and other districts in the region, including the Stavropol territory," Chenchik said. The reasons why young men who have education and job prospects join illegal armed units are yet to become a subject of profound analysis, he observed.