 Guerrilla commander Rezvan Isayev, a close associate of Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev, is among the fighters killed in a recent large-scale operation in Chechnya's Vedeno district, the republic's acting Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax by telephone on Tuesday. "Another two militants who held high-ranking posts in the hierarchy of illegal armed units have been identified as well," Alkhanov said. He confirmed an earlier report that more than 20 guerrillas were killed in the operation. These is evidence suggesting that militant commander Khairulla, who is wanted for involvement in the terrorist attack in Grozny on May 9, 2004, which killed Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, might have been killed as well, Alkhanov said. |