MOSCOW -- Russia's secret service confirmed Tuesday that Doku Umarov, listed as a terrorist by both Russia and the United States, had been killed in an anti-terror operation.
"In the first quarter of 2014, the activity of Umarov, the chieftain of the terrorist organization Caucasus Emirate, has been neutralized," said Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov.
More than 240 militants had been captured in 33 special operations since the start of this year, he told a meeting of the National Anti-terror Committee.
The death of Moscow's most wanted man had been reported several times -- in 2000, 2009, 2011 and 2014. These reports were all proved to be false.
Umarov's Caucasus Emirate group claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 37 people at a Moscow airport in 2011 and 40 people on Moscow subway in 2010. In July 2013, Umarov urged his fighters in a video posted online to use "maximum force" against the Winter Olympics in Russia's Sochi.
