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Basayev died 'in accident'
10/07/2006 21:35 - (SA)
Moscow - Chechen rebels on Monday confirmed the death of top Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, but said he died "accidentally" in an explosion - not in a special operation led by Russian forces.
"The Chechen commander died following the accidental explosion of a truck transporting explosives on July 10 2006, near the village of Ekazhevo, in Ingushetia," Chechnya's separatists said in a statement published on a website, Kavkazcenter.com, which they use frequently to make announcements.
FSB security service chief Nikolai Patrushev said the Chechen rebel leader who took responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school hostage massacre and other attacks in Russia over 15 years was killed overnight on Sunday by special forces.
Local Ingush police said Basayev was in a vehicle accompanying the truck with explosives late on Sunday.
But the Russian authorities remained vague about the exact circumstances of the explosion.
A similar situation was noted on June 17 after the death of Abdul-Khalim Saidulayev, self-styled president of separatist Chechnya.
He was said to have been killed during a routine security operation at Argun near the Chechen capital Grozny, in which police stumbled accidentally on a major prize.
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