Group of Chechen terrorists killed in Ingushetia

In Ingushetia, a republic neighboring on Chechnya, special forces have killed militants involved in the explosions of apartment blocks in Moscow and Volgodonsk, Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, a representative of the Regional Operational Staff on controlling the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, told RIA Novosti on Monday.

"After long searches, in the village of Barsuki of the Nazran district, on May 30, 2004, Federal Security Service special forces and Ingush law enforcers exposed three terrorist members of illegal armed formations who were involved in the insolent acts of terror, including the 1999 explosions of apartment blocks in Moscow and Volgodonsk," Shabalkin said.

"The bodies of the bandits have already been identified at the morgue of the Nazran republican hospital," the Staff representative added.

According to Shabalkin, the investigation has established that the bandits illegally arrived in Ingushetia from Azerbaijan via Georgia and had contacts with Arab mercenary Abu Al-Validov, a terrorist leader.

The bandits held counterfeit documents.