Tjetjenien

GROZNY, Chechnya. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Militants killed in a current
security operation in Chechnya may include Doku Umarov, a senior Chechen
separatist leader, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on Friday.
"According to reports that are coming in, up to 20 militants have
been killed. The bodies of three of them have been identified. They are
Islam Uspakhadzhiyev, Umarov's closest associate, Rustam Akuyev and
Alkhazur Bashayev. Uspakhadzhiyev was Umarov's closest associate - they
were moving around together and were holding negotiations by radio. For
this reason we can't rule out that Doku Umarov may be among those
killed," Kadyrov said.
"Many of the bodies are fragmented as a result of the rocket strike
from helicopters," he said. "For this reason, before a medical test is
made, we can't assert firmly that it's true that Umarov has been killed.
But there is no reason to say he's alive either."
The site of the operation is a wooded mountain area outside the
village of Shalazhi in Achkhoi-Martan district. Helicopters carried out
a rocket strike against an area where militants had been spotted, and
afterward police, Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives and special
forces troops launched ground action.
"The initial results are that the operation has been highly
effective. The searching of the locality is continuing," Kadyrov said.
He said his security adviser Adam Delimkhanov was coordinating the
operation on the site.
Kadyrov himself oversaw planning of the operation.