Ruslan Khuchbarov

Ruslan Tagirovich Khuchbarov (November 12, 1972 – September 3, 2004), was an Ingush man presumed to be the Islamic militant nicknamed "Polkovnik" (the Russian for Colonel) notorious for his leading role in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis. Polkovnik's identity is disputed and it is possible he escaped the bloody end to the crisis.[1]

Biography

Khuchbarov was an ethnic Ingush and native of the village of Galashki in the republic of Ingushetia near the border with Chechnya. His body was reportedly identified after he was killed during the storming of the school.

According to FSB information obtained by the Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey, Khuchbarov was living with his Russian girlfriend and their son in Oryol Oblast, until he was accused of murder and attempted murder of two members of the Armenian diaspora and declared wanted in 1998. Khuchbarov then went into hiding and moved to Chechnya, where he underwent extensive combat training in a camp of the field commander Ibragimov and took the nickname Colonel, collaborating with Arbi Barayev. Eventually he joined the brigade of Shamil Basayev and became one of his closest associates in Ingushetia. Khuchbarov and one other rebel, Amriev, were responsible for the Galashki ambush in Ingushetia on May 11, 2000, killing 18 soldiers and officers and wounding three. The bombing of the Ingushetian Department of the FSB on September 15, 2003, when three people died and 32 were seriously injured, has also been ascribed to Khuchbarov. He was involved in the training of suicide attackers.[2]

Russian sources initially reported "Polkovnik" to be Ali Taziyev, a former Ingush policeman-turned-rebel who was declared legally dead in 2000.[3][4][5] However, this was later refuted by the Russian prosecutors.[6] Investigators then alleged this was the same person as Akhmed Yevloyev, an Ingush terrorist leader also said to be Ali Taziyev, but those reports were declared incorrect later: although he had similar features as Yevloyev, his facial profile was a lot different. In addition, Yevloyev turned out to be still alive.[7]

Shamil Basayev, who claimed organizing the Beslan attack, identified "Polkovnik" as "Col. Orstkhoyev" and not Khuchbarov.[8][1]

References

  1. 1 2 The 2002 Dubrovka and 2004 Beslan Hostage Crises: A Critique of Russian Counter-Terrorism, Prospect, July 2006
  2. ↑ Head Terrorist “The Colonel” Not Found among the Dead, Kommersant, Sep. 10, 2004
  3. ↑ Beslan judge reads witness testimony on third day of trial, BreakingNews, May 18, 2006
  4. ↑ The Investigation is Hitting it on the Head', Kommersant, September 16, 2004
  5. ↑ Beslan militant 'lived to kill again', The Guardian, May 26, 2006
  6. ↑ Beslan: Russia’s 9/11?
  7. ↑ Chechnya - The week in brief: 16 - 22 July 2007, ReliefWeb, July 19, 2007
  8. ↑ Excerpts: Basayev claims Beslan, BBC News, 17 September, 2004
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.