02 September 2005, 12:18
Caliphate Society emir killed in Ingushetia
"An operation for the destruction of a gang leader, Alikhan Merzhoyev, was completed in Karabulak, Ingushetia, on Friday," the press service of the Department of the Federal Security Service for Ingushetia said. "The whereabouts of Merzhoyev were on Friday morning established in a homestead in Karabulak. It was suggested that he should surrender, but he opened fire in response," a representative of the Federal Security Service Department added.
The house where Mr Merzhoyev was hiding was blocked and civilians were evacuated from the neighbouring houses. Mr Merzhoyev was destroyed in a brief combat, RIA Novosti quotes the security service representative as saying.
As emir of the Caliphate Jamaat ("Society"), Mr Merzhoyev took over Magamed Khashiyev killed in October 2004. "Merzhoyev may have been involved in the organisation of murder attempts on Ibrahim Malsagov, Prime Minister of Ingushetia, and Jabrail Kostoyev, chief of the Main Internal Affairs Department of Nazran," the source remarked.
Mr Merzhoyev helped the terrorists who organised the terrorist act in Beslan, according to Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel. Law enforcement agencies recorded phone talks between Mr Merzhoyev and terrorists who captured the school. "Remember me to everyone. Tell them everything is okay. We'll be mojahideens, God willing... See you... Remember me to Abdullah... Many infidels have been killed. We've killed many... and are killing hard," Shepel quoted a fragment of the recording made during the school seizure.
