Russia kills IS 'emir' for North Caucasus

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had killed an "emir" of the Islamic State group in a raid in the volatile North Caucasus.

The spy group said in a statement that "among the neutralised bandits was the head of the Caucasus region's branch of the Islamic State Rustam Aselderov, and four of his close associates". 

The FSB said a joint operation with the interior ministry had cornered Aselderov and his fighters in a private house in the city of Makhachkala, where they found "automatic weapons and a large amount of ammunition and explosives". 

The 35-year-old was accused of being involved in blasts in the southern Russian city of Volgograd which killed 34 while fighting as part of another Caucasus insurgent group in 2013, the FSB said.

It also linked him to twin car blasts in Dagestan in 2012 that killed 14 and injured at least 120.

Aselderov also organised a potential attack on Moscow's Red Square on New Year's Eve 2010 that was foiled by security forces.

The militant previously fought with the local Caucasus Emirate insurgent group, taking over as leader of its Dagestan branch in 2012, the FSB said.

In 2014, the warlord pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - the first major militant to do so in the Caucasus - and became known as Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Qadari, the governor of a new Caucasus province.

IS has since claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on police in Dagestan.

In 2015 the US Department of State imposed sanctions on Aselderov as a "foreign terrorist fighter" after the militant group appointed him leader of its North Caucasus franchise, and a 5 million ruble ($78,000) reward was announced for information on Aselderov's whereabouts.

The Russian North Caucasus is one of the major sources of foreign militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, where a large-scale global campaign to drive out the group is currently making headway.