By empty (8/21/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A special police unit loyal to administration head Kadyrov\'s son, Ramzan, together with Russian troops, engaged in fierce fighting, using heavy artillery and military aircraft against a group of Chechen fighters in the village of Avtury in Shali Raion on 20 August, Interfax and chechenpress.com reported. Interfax quoted a Chechen Interior Ministry spokesman as saying that the Chechen force was commanded by Arab mercenary Abu-Walid, and that it was surrounded.The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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