Chechen warlord Doku Umarov's personal bodyguard was killed in clashes between rebels and law enforcement officers in Ingushetia, a rebel web site said Friday.
Chechen-born Supyan Abdullayev was the closest companion of Umarov, Russia's most-wanted man, Kavkazcenter.com reported. He fought against the Russians in two Chechen separatist wars.
Abdullayev was killed during a March 28 raid of a rebel training camp in Ingushetia during which the Air Force was employed, a rare occurrence in such clashes. He was one of 17 rebels killed by law enforcement officers. Three officials were also killed.
"Supyan trained hundreds of young mujahedin in warfare, Islam and jihad," Movladi Udugov, considered a powerful idealogue of the insurgency, wrote on Kavkazcenter.com
The web site posted pictures of Abdullayev, smiling and sporting a flowing ginger beard that was beginning to gray.
It remained unclear Sunday whether Umarov also died in the attack. The March 28 raid was aimed at finding suspects linked to the January suicide-bombing attack on Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, which killed 37 people. Umarov has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a separate development, three militants in Dagestan were killed by officers ...
