Chechens resort to guerilla war

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JAN. 7. Chechen rebels, encircled in the capital Grozny and driven from the plains into the mountains, are resorting to guerilla warfare on territory occupied by Russian forces.

``It's guerilla war,'' a wounded Russian soldier evacuated to a military hospital in Yekaterenburg, Siberia, told an NTV television reporter. ``They come at night, fire at our troops and vanish again.'' NTV quoted Russian officers as saying army units deployed on territory captured from Chechen militants had to set up dozens of outposts every night to guard themselves against rebel attacks.

``Militants sneak behind our lines during night time or come with returning refugees,'' a soldier told NTV. ``During the day they are peaceful civilians and at night they take out their hidden weapons and attack us.''

The press service of the Russian forces in Chechnya said today militants had set up bases in neighbouring Georgia and Azerbaijan for waging a drawn-out guerilla war in Chechnya. In Grozny, the Russian military claimed to have captured a strategic railway station near the city centre on Thursday, but at the same time they had to retake parts of the Grozny suburbs of Khankala and Alkhan-Kala, captured by Chechen militants earlier this week.

The Interfax news agency quoted sources at the Russian military headquarters in Chechnya as saying that federal forces were waging ``fierce battles'' against over 2,000 militants still holed up in Grozny. This means the number of rebels in the Chechen capital remains the same as two weeks ago, when Russians began storming the city.

At the same time, the military claimed to have killed hundreds of rebels in Grozny. Another 6,000 militants are fighting Russian troops in the mountains in the south of Chechnya, the military sources said.

The Deputy Chief of Staff, Gen. Valery Manilov, told Interfax that Russian forces had lost 475 dead and almost 1,350 wounded since October 1, when the army entered Chechnya.

The new figures indicate that the level of Russian casualties in the current military campaign is higher than in the first Chechen war, when Moscow admitted losing 3,900 servicemen killed during 21 months of hostilities.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Stakes high for Iran, Turkey
Next     : Trust Russia, Yeltsin tells Arafat