On February 16, Chechen officials said the fighting had shifted to the
neighboring Kazbekov district of Daghestan, where Daghestani, Chechen
and federal forces backed by military helicopters reportedly engaged in
two successive fierce gun battles with three separate groups of
insurgents totaling "several dozen" in all.They said two of those groups were led by Daghestani amirs Ruslan
Temirkaev and Arslan Mamedov (aka Amir Muaz), and the third by a
Chechen, Makharbi Timiraliyev, 47 Shaheed inshallah. (Intercepts of walkie-talkie
communications presumably facilitated the identification of the three
commanders.)OnFebruary 17, Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov claimed that Timiraliyev's entire detachment of seven men had b