Report: Three mass graves discovered in Chechnya Eds: Note contents in grafs 2, 3
MOSCOW (AP) - Three mass graves containing disfigured bodies were found in Chechnya, a news report said Sunday.
Two sites were found on the outskirts of the village of Emasuli, the Interfax news agency said, citing police in the northern Nadterechny district. The heads and arms had been cut off of the corpses, which were stacked in a shallow grave and covered with soil, Interfax said.
Two other bodies were discovered near the Staropromyslovsky district of the capital Grozny, Interfax said. The dead men's heads were wrapped in black plastic bags. Both had been strangled and their teeth had been knocked out, the agency reported.
Investigations were launched into both cases, Interfax said.
Such grisly discoveries are not uncommon in Chechnya, where Russian forces have been battling separatists for 3 1/2 years. Human rights organizations claim Russian troops are responsible for the killings, while the military blames the rebels.
Interfax also reported that the body of a Chechya-based Russian military officer was discovered Sunday. The body of Madzhid Aguyev, the deputy commander of a rapid-reaction platoon of the Chechen commandant's office, was found with multiple bullet wounds in a car near the village of Tsti-Su, the agency said, citing the Chechen Interior Ministry.
Meanwhile, Ruslan Visarigov, an officer in the pro-Moscow Chechen police force, was killed by a bomb that exploded near his home in the Shelkovskaya district, Interfax said.
Rebels frequently have targeted Chechens who work for the Kremlin-appointed government.
Russian forces fought a disastrous 1994-96 war with Chechen separatists before withdrawing to leave the region de facto independent. Troops returned three years later after rebel raids on a neighboring Russian region and after apartment-house bombings blamed on the rebels killed more than 300 people in Russian cities.