Chechens killed in Turkey

Turkey's state-run news agency says three Chechens were gunned down on a street in Istanbul, the latest in a string of attacks against Chechens in Turkey.

Three Chechens, including a leading commander of Chechen insurgents, have been shot dead in Istanbul, local media reported Saturday.

Unidentified assailants in a car opened fire on Friday on Musaevi Berkkhazh, Rustam Altemirol, and Zavrbek Amriev in the street, Turkish media said.

Berkkhaz, 33, was the most important insurgent commander living out of Chechnya and the other two victims were his bodyguards, daily Sabah reported. Berkkhazh was in Turkey to receive medical treatment for war wounds, media reports said.

At least three other Chechens have been killed in attacks in Turkey since 2008.

Muslim insurgents, seeking to create an independent state in Russia-held mostly Muslim North Caucasus, are battling Russian forces decade after Moscow seized the power of Muslim region of Chechnya.

Chechen groups have blamed Russian intelligence for the killings, although police suspect that at least one of the deaths was linked to a dispute among Chechens over the distribution of collected aid.

Turkey has a large ethnic Chechen community, and some Chechens fleeing fighting in Chechnya have taken refuge in the country.


/World Bulletin/