Scientists carrying out DNA tests on the bodies of militants killed in a recent anti-terrorist operation say they have not yet found any evidence that Chechen warlord Doku Umarov was killed, a special services source said on Friday.
Seventeen militants were killed on March 28 in a raid on a base in the volatile Russian North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia used by Islamist insurgents to train suicide bombers.
Russian officials suggested that Umarov, who has claimed responsibility for two recent deadly terrorist attacks in Moscow, was killed in the operation.
"At the moment, genetic tests have not confirmed the presence of Doku Umarov among the dead," the source said. "We need more time to firmly establish if Umarov was killed, possibly even several months."
Three Russian servicemen were also killed in the attack on the training base, which involved ground forces and air strikes.
Umarov, who has styled himself as the Emir of the Caucasus Emirate, claimed responsibility for the Domodedovo airport blast in January that killed 37 people, as well as the March 2010 suicide bombings on the Moscow subway, in which 40 people died.
There have been several false reports of the death of Umarov in recent years, including speculation that he was killed in an airstrike in Chechnya at the turn of the year.
MOSCOW, April 8 (RIA Novosti)
