Special forces eliminate militant cell

A notorious militant leader and foreign mercenaries were among 12 insurgents killed during an operation by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia.

Files on the 15-hour-long operation were released to journalists on Monday.

The militants operated in Ingushetia and Chechnya in the north Caucasus. Their leader – Vakha Dzhenaraliyev – had been on the federal government’s wanted list for attacks on police and Russian interior ministry troops.

Born in 1981, Dzhenaraliyev worked under Chechen militant leader, Doku Umarov, a former self-proclaimed President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

The FSB seized a large arsenal of arms and ammunition in the operation.