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Russians risk reprisals for killing a rebel chief
Magomed Khashiyev has died again, this time for real. | Are they sure he's going to stay dead? |
He was surprised and cornered, caught during a rare reunion with his wife and four children in a small single-story house here in Ingushetia, Russian republic neighboring Chechnya, on Oct. 10. After years of eluding the authorities, he spent his last moments fleeing shoeless through a garden, as Russian commandos riddled him with automatic rifle fire, witnesses and his relatives say. | Don't remember if this has been posted before, but that was such a nice to start my day I thought I'd share. |
Russian authorities described Khashiyev as an Islamic terrorist loyal to Shamil Basayev, the Chechen who claimed responsibility for the worst acts of terror to strike modern Russia, including the siege at a public school in Beslan in September in which at least 344 people were killed. Khashiyev trained in a terrorist camp in Chechnya, the Russians said, led a wing of Basayev's separatist group and helped organize attacks, including the seizure of the school. The unsparing pursuit of Khashiyev demonstrates Russia's invigorated efforts to hunt separatists after terrorist attacks have shaken the country this year. The Russian security services, which erroneously announced at least once before that they had killed him, all but openly celebrated his death. "We feel satisfaction," said Major General Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for counterterrorism forces in the North Caucasus. | Me too. More at the link. |
Posted by: Steve 2004-10-26 |
