SHALAZHI, Russia -- A Chechen teenager who was shot dead by French police in October after he beheaded a teacher near Paris has been buried in his family's village in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya.
Some 200 men, all residents of the village of Shalazhi, were allowed by local authorities to attend the December 6 burial of the 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov, whose body was brought to Chechnya via Turkey a day earlier.
Video posted on the Telegram channel Baza showed men chanting Islamic prayers and calling out, "There is no God, but God, and Mohammad is his messenger!" and "God is great!" while bringing Anzorov's body to the grave for burial.
Several dozen police officers were deployed at the site to keep order and make sure people from other areas did not attend the ceremony.
French authorities said in October that Anzorov, a refugee from Moscow, killed Samuel Paty near the school where he taught in a suburb outside Paris. Anzorov was shot and killed by police shortly after.
The 47-year-old history and geography teacher was killed days after he showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as part of a class discussion on freedom of expression.
French media have reported that the discussion prompted complaints from the parents of some students, including the father of one schoolgirl who called online for a “mobilization” against Paty. Muslims believe that any depiction of the Prophet is blasphemous.
France has seen a series of violent attacks carried out by Islamist militants in recent years. It has the biggest Muslim population in Western Europe, with around 5 million adherents, some of them Chechens offered asylum.