There is still no clear information about the details of a police operation against Chechen refugees in Nice, France. However, the French newspaper “Nice-Matin” and the Russian newspaper “Kommersant” have published some claims about the incident.

According to the “Nice-Matin”, the detainees have connections with the virtual organization, the “Caucasus Emirate” which was declared by Dokka Umarov. Three of the seven detainees were released yesterday. These four Chechens were accused by French authorities of being in a “criminal organization in preparation for terrorist acts”. However, still unclear is the question of “where would the attack take place?”

On the other hand, the newspaper points out that based upon eyewitnesses, the French investigators conducted their interrogation with pro-Russian authorities in Grozny. “Nice-Matin” wrote that “Ramzan Magamadov”, an Imam from the community, was detained after the operation and interrogated by investigators for several hours on June 8.

A cousin of one of the detainees spoke to the newspaper: “They are between 20 and 30 years old. They are hard workers. They all live together in order to reduce their living costs. All of them have jobs and girlfriends. My cousin is even getting married on July 3. They are like all other young people. On the weekends they go out partying and they have no connection to radical Islamists. During the operation my cousin and Aslan thought that the Russian Spetsnaz were there and for this reason they jumped from the window. Aslan Dashlakayev is dead now.”

On the other hand, the Russian newspaper “Kommersant” claims that the operation carried out by the French intelligence service is related to Abdulla Erzanukayev, a Chechen businessman who was killed recently in Nice. According to the Russian newspaper, the detainees have no connections to radical Islamists, but they were working with Abdulla Erzanukayev and were planning to avenge his death. A French journalist, Anne Nivat, also expressed her thoughts on the operation the same way.

*Text was translated by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco