Abduction_of_Russian_diplomats_in_Iraq
Abduction of Russian diplomats in Iraq
2006 kidnapping and murder in Iraq
The 2006 abduction of Russian diplomats in Iraq took place on June 3, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq when Iraqi insurgents ambushed a car belonging to the Russian Embassy.[1] Vitaly Titov, (a security guard), was killed in the attack and the other four people in the car – Fyodor Zaitsev (the embassy Third Secretary[2]), Rinat Agliuglin (a cook), Oleg Fedoseyev (a security guard), and Anatoly Smirnov (a driver)[3] – were abducted.[4]
On June 19, 2006, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, a group affiliated with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack and issuing an ultimatum to Russia to withdraw from Chechnya and release all Muslim prisoners within 48 hours. On June 25, the group issued a statement that it had beheaded three of the hostages and shot to death the fourth. The statement was accompanied by a video showing a few seconds of the beheading of one hostage, the beheaded corpse of a second hostage, and the shooting of a third. The execution of the fourth hostage is not shown.[4]