Chechen militants used camps in the Turkish part of Cyprus to prepare terrorist attacks in Russia, Cypriot Justice Minister Doros Theodorou told a local newspaper.

In an interview with the Phileleftheros newspaper, Mr. Theodorou said terrorists from different countries had bases in the northern part of the island. Most of them were Chechens who prepared attacks in Russia, the minister stressed. He said this information was provided by intelligence agencies. Mr. Theodorou said he would report the information about the terrorist bases in Cyprus to the leadership of the European Union and the United States.

Earlier, the Cypriot administration said it was unaware about whether Beslan attackers had visited the northern part of the island. Apparently, Mr. Theodorou’s statement is aimed at changing the opinion of the West about Cypriot separatists. In May, the Greek Cypriots came out against the reunification of the island. The EU blamed the failed reunification attempt on Greek Cypriots. However, the Republic of Cyprus (Greek) was admitted to the EU on May 1, while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was left out of the union.

In the wake of the Beslan tragedy, the General Staff and the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation said Russia would launch pre-emptive strikes against terrorist bases, whenever they were located.

Meanwhile, a group of foreign mercenaries was killed in Chechnya, sources in the Regional Command Center for the Counter-Terrorist Operation in the North Caucasus told RBC.

The battle erupted in the Shalinsky district of the Chechen Republic on Sunday afternoon, and lasted until dark. According to the Command Center, intercepted telephone calls (in Turkish) suggested that the bandits were suffering heavy losses.

The bodies of five mercenaries were found at the site of the battle in the morning. One of them had documents issued to Turkish national Khasan Umach, born in 1980. The identification of other militants is continuing. In all probability, they were also mercenaries. According to the Command Center, they had foreign IDs.

In the estimation of the Command Center, up to 10 foreign mercenaries took part in the battle. They were all blockaded by Russian troops. The operation was resumed in the morning.