MOSCOW (AP) — A Muslim cleric opposed to radical Islamists has been killed in the restive Caucasus region.
Russian news agencies reported that Anas Pshikhashev was gunned down Wednesday by unidentified assailants outside his house in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkariya province.
The 43-year old cleric was the Kremlin-backed chief mufti of the impoverished province roiled by attacks of Islamists and police abuses.
Several pro-government Muslim clerics have been killed in the Caucasus in recent years for their support of Kremlin policies and their condemnation of militant groups.
The ethnically diverse and predominantly Muslim region has been plagued by violence stemming from two separatist wars in Chechnya.
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