Chechen leader Kadyrov orders shooting of anti-Israel protesters

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has given the police an order to shoot at demonstrators in order to prevent anti-Israel storming like in neighbouring Dagestan at the weekend.

A crowd hunting for Jews stormed the airport in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala on Sunday and attacked people who had arrived on a plane from Tel Aviv.

More than 20 people were injured and 83 detained, local officials said.

Chechnya and Dagestan are both semi-autonomous Russian republics located in the northern Caucasus. They have Muslim-majority populations.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Kadyrov told a meeting of the Chechen regional government in Grozny that anyone taking part in unrest would be detained and imprisoned.

If anyone resists, he said, officials should fire three warning shots.

"After that, if the person still violates the law, fire the fourth shot at the head! He won't do it again. This is my order," Kadyrov reportedly said.

Like other Russian politicians, he accused the West of inciting the anti-Semitic attack in Dagestan.

According to the authorities, there were also actions directed against Jews in other Muslim-majority regions in the North Caucasus. Flights from Tel Aviv have now been diverted to other Russian airports in safer regions.