a fierce civil war-style conflict between the Chechen government and the opposition forces. For the first two months the clashes were sporadic, but on September 4, Dudayev's forces attacked Labazanov's stronghold of Argun and after a fierce all-night battle during which dozens of fighters were killed on both sides succeeded in dislodging him out of the city. The fighting culminated in the November 26 attempted raid on Grozny by the Chechen opposition supported by the covert Russian federal forces, which resulted in the final defeat for the Provisional Council and the open intervention by Moscow. During the subsequent First Chechen War of 1994-1996, Labazanov sided with the invading Russian federal forces and promptly was given the rank of colonel in the Russian internal security service FSK (soon to be reorganized into the FSB). On June 1, 1996, it was reported that Labazanov was slain together with a bodyguard at the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, 15 kilometres north of Grozny. He was reportedly gunned down at point-blank range in his fortified castle-like house, where he had been living with his three wives. The perpetrator was allegedly one of his own men. The Russians quickly implicated the Chechen separatist field commander Shamil Basayev in the killing. According to another version, Labazanov fell victim to blood vengeance by the relatives of a killed Chechen police officer. See also List of unsolved murders References 1967 births 1996 deaths Assassinated Chechen people Chechen gangsters Chechen warlords Deaths by firearm in Russia Escapees from Soviet detention Federal Security Service officers Kazakhstani escapees Male murder victims Murdered gangsters People convicted of murder by the Soviet Union People murdered in Russia People of the Chechen wars Soviet military personnel Soviet people convicted of murder Unsolved murders in Russia