NALCHIK, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - The bodies of nine hunters have been found in a wooded area in the southern Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, where police suspect they were killed after running across a militant group, a police source said on Monday.
"The victims, identified as four hunters and five gamekeepers accompanying them, should have encountered a camp of militants, who killed them and took away their rifles," a police source said.
He said the bodies with gunshot wounds in the back of their heads and tied arms were found on Sunday during a search effort launched after their two cars were discovered abandoned in the woods.
Islamic separatists from troubled Chechnya often hide in other republics of Russia's North Caucasus region, including Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia, Daghestan, Karachai-Circassia and North Ossetia. Clashes with and attacks by gunmen have regularly occurred in the region although the Kremlin's anti-terrorism campaign was declared over in 2001.
