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Five Russian soldiers killed in clash with rebels |
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May 31, 2000
The soldiers belonged to a reconnaissance group combing Chechnya's hills and forests for rebels to be targeted by Russian artillery and attack jets. Government spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said that 15 rebels were killed in the clash Monday, the Interfax news agency reported.
The skirmish near the village of Sayasan in southwestern Chechnya came as Russian forces were stepping up bombardment of rebel strongholds in the southern mountains.
The increased attacks are aimed at targets in the southeastern, Nozhai-Yurt district, which borders on the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan, a military spokesman said Tuesday.
Russian officials fear rebel fighters may slip into Dagestan, where 19 soldiers were killed earlier this month when a federal column was ambushed.
The Russian attacks in the southeast killed 65 rebels, the spokesman said. The figures could not be verified, and both sides tend to exaggerate the other's casualty toll.
Russian forces swept across lowland Chechnya after entering the rebellious province in September. Now they are trying to wipe out rebel bands hiding in the mountainous south, who continue to ambush federal troops in the area.
The rebels have also stepped up attacks in lowland areas that Russian forces took months ago. Federal troops exchanged fire overnight with rebels on the outskirts of the republic's capital Grozny, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Servicemen noticed flashlights in a wooded area and opened fire, the agency said, citing the unit's commanding officer, Col. Alexander Kovalyov. Rebels returned fire with grenade launchers and automatic rifles, then retreated.
Also Tuesday, Russia's chief official in Chechnya, Nikolai Koshman, said he had fired his deputy, Bislan Gantemirov. Gantemirov, the former mayor of Grozny, had been put in charge of a pro-Moscow Chechen militia by Russian officials.
Gantemirov was dismissed for "systematic absenteeism and non-fulfillment of his duties," Koshman was quoted as saying by Interfax.
The militia under his command turned out to be uncontrollable and 295 out of 353 militiamen had been dismissed for absenteeism, Koshman was quoted as saying.
Russian forces, driven out of Chechnya in a 1994-96 war, re-entered in September after Islamic militants based there seized several villages in Dagestan, and after about 300 people died in apartment bombings the government blames on Chechens.
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