Six Russians killed in Chechen rebel attacks

Russian soldiers patrol in the outskirts of Grozny where seven Russian servicemen were killed and 12 wounded in attacks by Chechen independence fighters, officials said Thursday

July 20, 2000
Web posted at: 3:42 p.m. EDT (1942 GMT)

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Chechen rebels rampaged through Russian-held towns in the separatist province, killing at least six Russian soldiers, reports from both sides of the conflict said on Thursday.

Attacks in four towns near the ruined regional capital Grozny left six Russians dead and 11 injured, Interfax news agency quoted Interior Ministry forces as saying.

The rebel Web site kavkaz.org confirmed at least one attack, saying guerrillas clashed with crack OMON police just east of Grozny, in the town of Argun, killing six Russians.

Interfax said in a separate report that five rebels were killed during a three-hour battle at Nozhai-Yurt in the southern mountains -- where Russia acknowledges it does not control all areas. Both sides exaggerate enemy losses.

Russian generals have repeatedly said their troops will crush rebel resistance, 10 months into the war. But a steady death toll has undermined such statements, as has a feud between two pro-Moscow Chechen leaders.

Moscow has appointed the region's top Muslim cleric, Mufti Akhmad Kadyrov, as civilian administrator and last week named Bislan Gantamirov, a convicted embezzler and former mayor of Grozny, as his deputy. It said the two would help kick-start a political process to end hostilities.

But Gantamirov, angered at Kadyrov's decision to dismiss some local police, marched armed men up to Kadyrov's headquarters this week, prompting the Mufti to accuse him of "armed mutiny."

Gantamirov responded that Kadyrov had staffed his administration with "separatists and terrorists."

The two were due to meet at Russia's Mozdok military headquarters just outside Chechnya later on Thursday. Russian news agencies said General Viktor Kazantsev, the Kremlin's special envoy to Chechnya, would try to defuse the row.

In the southern mountains, Russian attack jets flew nine combat missions over the past 24 hours, striking rebel targets in two gorges thought to be sites for guerrilla bases, Interfax reported.

Russia sent troops into Chechnya last September, having lost control of the province in a rout at the end of a 1994-96 war. Moscow blamed the guerrillas for a series of bomb blasts in Russian cities which killed nearly 300, acts denied by rebels.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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