MOSCOW (AP) – The Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya said on Wednesday that his troops have killed six suspected militants, including a warlord accused of staging a 2011 suicide attack at a Moscow airport.
Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s regional leader, said troops under his command tracked down the suspects in the village of Qatar-Yurt and killed them all on the spot. Kadyrov claimed the raid marked the elimination of the last group of militants left in the region.
“All underground bands in Chechnya have now been eliminated,” Kadyrov said on his blog. He added that the security inspection had been planned long ago and followed two previous unsuccessful attempts to track down the militants.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin called to congratulate Kadyrov, who personally participated in the security action.
Kadyrov said the dead included warlord Aslan Byutukayev, who was accused by Russian authorities of involvement in the January 2011 suicide attack in the arrivals hall of Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, which killed 37 people.
Umarov, who also claimed responsibility for several other attacks in Russia, was killed in a 2013 security attack.
After Umarov’s death, Byutukayev became the leader of militants in Chechnya and swore allegiance to the Islamic State group. He is on Russia’s wanted list for his involvement in the 2011 airport bombings and other attacks.
The Kremlin relied on Kadyrov to stabilize Chechnya after two separatist wars in the 1990s and early 2000s and has provided generous grants to help rebuild the region.
International human rights groups have accused Kadyrov of rampant rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings by his feared security forces.
Despite Kadyrov’s brutal crackdown on suspected extremists, some of whom have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group, militants have continued to carry out sporadic attacks in Chechnya and other regions of Russia’s Northern Caucasus.