Russia kills Moscow metro attacks mastermind

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Russia kills Moscow metro attacks mastermind

Sat Aug 21, 3:37 PM

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian security forces Saturday killed a top militant suspected

of organising the deadly attacks on the Moscow metro and who was reportedly

married to one of the female suicide bombers.

Magomedali Vagabov was killed in a clash with security forces in the Caucasus

region of Dagestan that left four other militants dead, the national anti-terror

committee said in a statement published by Russian news agencies.

The double bombings carried out by two female suicide bombers on the Moscow

metro on March 29 killed 40 and wounded more than 100.

" Vagabov was the organiser of the suicide bombings on the Moscow metro, was

actively involved in recruiting youth for the underground and organised the

training for the suicide bombers, " the committee said.

He was described in the official statement as the number two figure in the

Islamist-inspired insurgency that has plagued the Russian Northern Caucasus over

the last years, after its overall leader Doku Umarov.

The clash, described as being brief, took place in the village of Gunib -- in

the mountains of Dagestan southwest of the local capital Makhachkala -- where

the militants were holed up in a house.

" Once the fire from the building was put out, one of the corpses was identified

as Magomedali Vagabov, " the statement said.

According to some reports, Vagabov was the husband of m Sharipova, one of

the metro suicide bombers.

This has been strongly denied by her father in media interviews but the Russian

news agency reports described her as Vagabov's " sharia wife " , implying he had

made her one of a number of spouses.

Sharipova blew herself up at Moscow's Lubyanka metro station in the early

morning rush hour followed by her accomplice Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova who

detonated her charge shortly afterwards at the Park Kulturi station.

As well as the Moscow metro attacks, Vagabov had also planned a string of

attacks against security forces and on railway infrastructure, the statement

said.

It said he had received training at a militant camp in Pakistan and had contacts

with a number of international terror groups who had also passed on financing.

" The annihilation of the well-known bandit Vagabov and his henchmen is a success

for the security forces and shows even the most sophisticated means will not

allow bandits to escape responsibility for their deeds, " it said.

There were no casualties among the security forces or the civilian population in

the village.

The Russian security forces had targeted Vagabov in previous special operations

but had until now failed to track him down. Russian media reported at the time

of the attacks he lead a 40-strong group in the forested mountains.

Not all however were convinced by the proud statements by the authorities over

the killing.

" It's not like we've captured Osama bin Laden, we've liquidated some bandit who

was not only unknown to the man in the street but also to MPs who do not

specialise in the underground, " said Gennady Gudkov, deputy head of the lower

house of parliament's security committee.

" Despite the successes of the special services, the sources who form the

underground have not been exhausted, " he told the RIA Novosti news agency.

The Kremlin fought two wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya in the 1990s

but the insurgency has now become more Islamist in tone and has spread to

neighbouring Ingushetia and Dagestan.

A top rebel in Chechnya was killed separately Saturday by special forces,

officials said, naming him as Khamzat Chemilev, alias the " emir of Grozny " ,

accused of carrying out attacks on markets in the city in 2009 and 2010.

They said he was trapped in his house and told to surrender, but burst out

firing an automatic weapon and throwing hand grenades before blowing himself

himself up.

Two media workers in Dagestan -- Abubark Rizvanov, the director of Khuda-media,

and his deputy Timur Kurbanmagomedov -- were meanwhile reported missing Saturday

after being followed for several days by unknown men.