| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus |
| 10 Russians killed in Chechnya |
| 2003-12-21 |
| Ten Russian servicemen were killed in rebel attacks in Chechnya within 24 hours, an official in the Kremlin-backed Chechen administration said Saturday. In the neighboring republic of Dagestan, meanwhile, Russian forces in the snowy mountains fought a band of Chechen insurgents who crossed into Dagestan early in the week. The news agency ITAR-Tass cited Dagestan’s leader, Magomedali Magomedov, as saying that one group of insurgents was trapped in a gorge, but it was unclear whether that included all the remaining fighters who entered Dagestan on Monday. Officials previously said that at least 10 of those rebels had been killed. The foray into Dagestan prompted fears that Chechen rebels would repeat previous incursions into the region during Russia’s two wars against Chechen separatists in the past decade. Russian troops rolled back into Chechnya in September 1999 after Chechen rebels carried out attacks in villages in western Dagestan and after the Kremlin blamed militants for apartment bombings that killed some 300 people in Russia. The current war has seen few major offensives by either side in recent years. The battle has turned into a bloody stalemate in which the rebels inflict daily casualties on the Russians with small attacks and explosions, while Russian forces pound the mountainous southern region with artillery and air attacks to uproot the rebels. During a recent 24-hour span, five Russian soldiers were killed when military positions and checkpoints came under rebel fire, an official in the Chechen administration said on condition of anonymity. Three more soldiers died when their armored personnel carrier hit a land mine, and two members of OMON, the Interior Ministry’s special troops, were killed during a clash with rebels, the official said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |