Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed on Tuesday in a special operation by Russian security forces, according to footage aired by local television channel NTV.

Ramzan Kadyrov, first deputy president of Chechen government, said that the federal troops had planned to capture Maskhadov alive, but he was killed accidentally by his bodyguard's weapons, according to Interfax.

Maskhadov was taking shelter in a bunker under one of the houses in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt when an armed clash between the two sides broke out there, according to Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the regional headquarters for the control of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus region in southern Russia.

But Chechen rebels vowed their fight for Chechnya's independence would go on.

A successor would be named within days, Maskhadov's London-based envoy Akhmed Zakayev said.

Russia, which had accused Maskhadov of masterminding a series of deadly attacks on civilian targets, including last year's Beslan school siege, hailed his death as a coup.

Source: Agencies