Shamil Basayev Killed By Russian Special Forces
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Greg Tinti | Monday, July 10, 2006 |
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev
The Beslan mastermind goes down (hat tip: Allah):
Russia’s most wanted man, Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, has been killed in an operation by special forces, the state security chief told President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev said Basayev, who claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school attack in which 331 people, half of them children, were killed, was planning an attack to coincide with Russia hosting the G8 summit of world leaders this weekend.
CNN’s Matthew Chance said the killing was a massive victory for the security services and a huge blow for the rebel leadership.
Basayev, together with other Chechen fighters, was killed in Ingushetia, a region neighboring Chechnya, where rebels are battling for independence.
In a televised meeting with Patrushev, Putin described Basayev’s death as “deserved retribution” for Beslan and other attacks.
“This is deserved retribution against the bandits for our children in Beslan, in Budennovsk, for all these acts of terror they committed in Moscow and other Russian regions, including Ingushetia and Chechnya,” Putin said, according to Reuters.
Basayev was also responsible for the infamous Moscow theater hostage crisis which led to the deaths of 130 people when Russian forces stormed the theater in an attempt to free the hostages.
UPDATE: Major attacks linked to Basayev.
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