Guerrillas killed in Grozny accused of terrorism

Law enforcement agencies accuse militants killed in an armed clash in Chechnya's capital of Grozny of involvement in a series of terrorist attacks across the republic, the Interior Ministry's press center in the North Caucasus said on Sunday.

The guerrillas have been identified as Viskhan Zaitov, Ruslan Zaitiyev and Aslan Tsumariyev.

"The first two men operated in the Nadterechny district of Chechnya and were involved in the murder of district administration chief Akhmed Zavgayev and a terrorist attack in the village of Znamenskoye in July, in which 14 people were killed and more than 20 injured," the press center said.

"Aslan Tsumariyev served as the so-called emir of the community of Sernovodsk. He was involved in a raid on the village of Rashni-Chu in the Urus-Martan district in August 2005," it said.

A manhunt is underway for the rest of the guerrilla group.

Chechen Interior Ministry sources said in an earlier interview with Interfax that three guerrillas had been killed in Grozny.

"Policemen spotted a car on Khankalskaya Street in Grozny's Oktyabrsky district during a search operation. The active illegal armed group participants armed with automatic weapons who were hiding inside the car ignored orders to surrender and went on a shooting spree," the sources said.

A handheld under-barrel grenade launcher, two Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades, and fake police IDs were confiscated from the scene, Interfax reported.