Blast Kills Chechen Anti-Kidnap Chief

Chechnya’s top anti-kidnapping official was killed when a bomb tore his car to pieces on the day he was to launch a major offensive against hostage-takers in the breakaway republic in southern Russia. Shadid Bargishev’s two bodyguards were in critical condition, and several passersby also were injured, doctors said. Bargishev, 27, died on the operating table after losing both legs in the blast in the parking lot of the anti-kidnapping department office in the Chechen capital, Grozny, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov’s office said in a statement.