Putin dismisses head of Russia’s region of Dagestan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacked the head of Russia’s southern region of Dagestan amid heightened concern over controlling the insurgency in the Caucasus region.

Kremlin officials said on Monday that Putin has moved Magomedsalam Magomedov from the post of the provincial head of the region to a position in the Kremlin, but provided no official reason.

Since 2010, Magomedov had struggled with the insurgency that caused violence and political rivalries in the region.

Ramzan Abdulatipov, a member of Russia’s lower house of parliament in the ruling party of United Russia, took Magomedov’s position as acting head and vowed to “cleanse Dagestan of the scum and ensure its revival.”

Former Kremlin Adviser Gleb Pavlovsky declared Dagestan as being “in a permanent crisis” with “various clans and ethnic groups fighting each other.”

Insurgent groups aim to separate Dagestan from Russia as well as other provinces located in the North Caucasus.

Russia has taken a solid stance against sporadic attacks and militant clashes in the republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia since the mid 1990s.