Militant behind Moscow metro blasts killed

Moscow, Aug 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian officials said Saturday that a militant behind the bombings on the Moscow metro in March has been killed in a police operation.

The Anti-Terror Committee confirmed that Magomedali Vagabov, along with four other militants, was killed in an operation early Saturday in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

Vagabov was the husband of Mariam Sharipova, one of the two suicide bombers who attacked the Moscow metro March 29, police said.

Sharipova and another bomber, Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova, blew themselves up at the Lubyanka and the Park Kultury metro stations during the morning rush hour, killing 40 people and injuring over 100.

Vagabov was a close associate of Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov, who claimed responsibility for the bombings, police said.

–IANS/RIA Novosti