GROZNY. June 27 (Interfax-AVN) - A grave containing the bodies of nine people executed by Chechen militants in 1996-1997 has been discovered in the republic, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service's (FSB) branch for Chechnya told Interfax on Tuesday.
"Officers of the FSB department for the Chechen republic and the 58th army's group in charge of searching for killed and missing persons were tipped off about a grave where the bodies of local residents who supported the federal government and soldiers who served on the territory of the Chechen republic might have been buried. They were taken captive and executed by militants in 1996-1997," the spokesman said.
The grave was found on the premises of a destroyed militant base, he said.
"No gunshot wounds were spotted, and some of the skulls had been wrapped up in rags. It allows us to suppose that the persons were beheaded," the spokesman said. Clothes that presumably belonged to the victims were found in a pit near the grave, he added.
The remains are being identified and an investigation is under way, he said.