MOSCOW, April 1 (Itar-Tass) - Out of the 17 militants killed in a large-scale special operation in Ingushetia's Sunzha district on March 28, eight are already identified, the republic's head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov told a press conference in the capital. "In the special operation, 17 militants were killed, according to the preliminary information. There are fragments of two bodies not identified yet. They are under expert examination in Moscow. I think, it will be completed within a week," he said. The bodies of eight killed bandits have been identified in a morgue in Ingushetia. Among them are six residents of Ingushetia, who were on a wanted list, the republic’s head said. Yevkurov also said he had no information so far whether Doku Umarov was killed in the operation. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is conducting the investigation. If there is such information, it will be made public. "I have no such information so far," he told the press conference in Moscow. The multi-phase operation to eliminate Umarov began early this year. The deciding phase to hit the gunmen’s leader and his close circle was conducted in the daytime on March 28 in a highland area 20 km away from the village of Verkhny Alkun of the Sunzha district. It is the so-called "Sunzha Triangle" between Ingushetia, Chechnya and North Ossetia, from where it is possible to go through mountain passes to Georgia. In the early 2000s, it was a transshipment base of gunmen, and, according to the operational information, for the wide possibility to manoeuvre, it was one of the most likely places where Umarov could base, the source said. Seventeen gunmen were killed in the air strike of the Russian Air Force. Two were detained. They are suspected of involvement in the January 24 terrorist attack at Moscow's Domodedovo airport. An investigating group is continuing to work at the operation site in Ingushetia. As an informed source of Ingushetia's law enforcement authorities told Itar-Tass on Friday, Doku Umarov's common-law wife, his personal doctor Khamzat Byutukayev and his "right-hand" man, 54-year-old Supyan Abdullayev, who was always near Umarov, were identified among those killed the operation in Ingushetia. Thus, it is highly probable that Umarov himself was killed in the operation, the source stressed. Other two gunmen are also identified -- a 23-year-old resident of the village of Ali-Yurt of the Nazran district and a 24 -year-old resident of the Nasyr-Kortovsky municipal area of Nazran. The bodies of 14 of the 17 killed bandits are in a morgue in Ingushetia. Remains of other three have been taken for genetic examination in Moscow, the source said. Ingushetia’s head Yevkurov told Itar-Tass earlier that Umarov was not among the gunmen in the morgue in Ingushetia.
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