[RFE/RL] Chechen chief Ramzan Kadyrov has indirectly confirmed a report posted on the militant website KavkazCenter that unknown people painted a black jihadi banner on a wall in his home village of Tsentoroi (Khosi-Yurt) during the night of February 8. He said local police apprehended those responsible within 24 hours.According to the website, the entire village was cordoned off on February 9 after the banner was painted on a wall, together with the words, in English, "Khosi-Yurt is support ISIS."
KavkazCenter quoted unnamed village residents as saying that Kadyrov immediately fired all his closest security advisors, together with his chief of staff Magomed Daudov. He reportedly also fired all police personnel who live in Tsentoroi. There has been no official confirmation.
Kadyrov's version of what happened is not quite the same. He said that on discovery of the "artwork," police living in Tsentoroi immediately suspended themselves from duty pending dismissal and set about tracking down the perpetrators, who were apprehended within 24 hours. He did not identify the perpetrators or say how many there were.
Kadyrov said the entire village then gathered at a local sports stadium to express their support and approval of the police, whose letters of resignation Kadyrov said he has asked the Interior Minister to disregard.