Police officials in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia prevented a large-scale terrorist attack on Thursday by killing a militant leader, the press service of the local police force said.
"On August 12 the law enforcement bodies received information that a militant group was preparing a large-scale terrorist attack, involving a car," the source said, adding that the information had pointed at Kharun Pliyev as the organizer of the attack.
Police stopped a Mercedes car carrying Kharun Pliyev and another unidentified militant earlier on Thursday near the village of Pliyevo in the Nazran district of Ingushetia.
The two militants resisted attempts at their arrest and were badly wounded in the ensuing shoot out, but managed to flee the scene. Pliyev's body was later found in Pliyevo. A search for the other militant is still underway.
Bomb experts found a home-made explosive device equivalent of 12 kg of TNT and a 7.62 millimeter Kalashnikov rifle in the car. A police source earlier said that guns, ammunition and a home-made grenade were found on the militant's dead body.
"There were no casualties among the police officers or local residents," the official said.
Pliyev was suspected of involvement in a series of attacks on police officers and military personnel in July.
Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of militant violence lately, with frequent attacks on police and officials.
MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)
