Russian troops killed 15 rebels from the cell headed by field commander Abuvalid Astamirov. The gang had used forged documents to pretend that they were police, security officers or even Russian servicemen, so that they could kidnap civilians for profit. The rebel leader's body been also been found, near the village of Tangi. Astamirov lived in Germany in 2000.
Meanwhile, Chechnya's pro-Moscow president claimed that Saudi leaders had promised him that their country had stopped its once opaque financial aid for Muslim terrorists in the region. - Adam Geibel