MOSCOW (Reuters) – A group of Russian Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for the killing of the mayor of a city in the turbulent North Caucasus region, an Internet site with rebel links reported on Thursday.

“The execution of the enemy of Allah was carried out by the amir of Kataib al-Khoul,” a statement posted on the www.kavkazcenter.com Internet site.

The mayor of Vladikavkaz, Vitaly Karayev, was shot on Wednesday. The Internet site, used as a mouthpiece for Islamist rebels in the North Caucasus, described the Kataib al-Khoul group as the local faction of Islamist rebel forces.

(Reporting by James Kilner; writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Reuters