GROZNY. Nov 18 (Interfax-AVN) - A Russian family has been murdered in Grozny.
"Rebels shot dead Vasily Kotikov, 67, his wife Vera Kotikova, 67, and their son Vasily Kotikov, 41 in their own house," an on- duty officer in the police department for Chechnya told Interfax- Military News Agency on Monday.
"The murder was committed in order to destabilize the situation and incite ethnic hostility," the officer said.
A manifestation of gang war between warlords Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev has been registered in the Achkhoi-Martan district. "A house that belonged to a guerilla nicknamed Kondor was blasted in the Samashki village on Basayev's order. Kondor is a deputy head of a guerilla group subordinate to Maskhadov," the officer stressed.
"According to intelligence reports, the conflict was caused by disagreements over dividing power and profits from illegal extraction and procession of oil," the officer added.