Chechen leader Shamil Basayev has been killed:
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Russia’s most wanted man, Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, has been killed by the country’s special forces, the state security chief has told President Vladimir Putin.
FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev said on Monday that Basayev, who claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school attack in which 331 people, half of them children, were killed, was planning an attack to coincide with Russia hosting the G8 summit of world leaders this weekend.
CNN’s Matthew Chance said the killing was a massive victory for the security services and a huge blow for the rebel leadership.
Russian television showed Patrushev meeting Monday with Putin to tell him about the special operation in Ingushetia — a republic bordering Chechnya — in which Basayev was killed in the early morning hours of Monday.
The Russian agents exploded a truck bomb next to several cars in which Basayev and other rebels were riding, according to Interfax, which was quoting Ingush Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev.
The CNN story cited above seems to be a paraphrase of the ITAR-TASS story which appears here. According to the story Basayev was blown to bits in the explosion and was identified by his head. The Russian language online news media are absolutely full of this story and are running pictures somewhat more grizzly than those appearing in the Western press.
A ghastly end for a ghastly man.
The reports are saying that Basayev was killed as the result of a special operations action but I wonder. Driving high explosives down roads in the condition that those in Ingushetia probably are in has its risks. I see that the BBC is reserving judgment.
UPDATE: Having reflected on it for a while I suspect that Basayev’s demise will have more operational impact than Zarqawi’s. Zarqawi was really just one thug among many; I suspect that by virtue of his temperament, his zest for violence, and his dominance of the Chechen insurgency Basayev will be difficult to replace. I also suspect that he was the primary conduit for foreign support for the Chechen insurgency and that can’t be replaced instantaneously, either.
I doubt that his death will end the Chechen insurgency: the forces that created it still haven’t changed. But I wonder (and hope) that its character may change.
First Zarqawi, now Basayev. Civilization is on a roll.
Marc, I’d agree with you, except that Putin is a lot more dangerous. This is the man who has said that the fall of the Soviet Union was the worst catastrophe of the century. He already has nuclear weapons; possibly more important, he has a good part of the world’s oil and gas, and controls the gas supply to much of europe.
Sure, Basayev was a terrorist, but he mostly terrorised the Russians, and kept them busy.
Marc and Fletcher Christian, I’d agree with you both.
Seems rather odd that at the point both Bush and Putin (in order of “success”) really want to show they’re in control (G8), goodbye those evil enemies of the state.
Fletcher Christian, as for Putin’s aging nukes, he’ll be lucky to get them out of the silos. The lack of care over the past years has reduced his nukes to road kill. Hence the recent massive rise in Russian defense spending. Not to mention Putin has China next door and they *do* have nukes ready to roll.
Putin does have the capacity to make Europe shiver in its boots. Whether he’s got the guts to do so, for real, remains to be seen. The EU could muster a formidable force against any such gas pressure (pun intended) and given the state of the Russian forces might very well waltz into Moscow for a quick cuppa.
Good comment, jimbo.
And I’ll repeat here something I’ve frequently received adamant denials for pointing out: only its nuclear arsenal makes Russia anything but a regional power. And its dwindling population and flagging economy put even that in jeopardy.