Akhmar Zavgaev, the head of Nadterechnyi Raion and brother of former pro-Moscow Chechen Prime Minister Doku Zavgaev, was killed on 9 September when gunmen opened fire on his car. His secretary also died in the attack, for which the Chechen resistance military leadership claimed responsibility in a statement posted on chechenpress.com the same day. Chechen Prime Minister Stanislav Ilyasov described Zavgaev as an experienced administrator and his murder as a great loss for Chechnya. Former Russian administrator in Chechnya Nikolai Koshman said part of the blame for the murder lies with local military prosecutors' offices, which are responsible for the security of local officials. For the past two months, Zavgaev had dispensed with bodyguards. (Interfax)