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Russia Continues Chechnya CampaignA Russian military spokesman said Chechen guerrillas were suffering "serious losses" in the latest fighting. "Federal troops are continuing to regroup and prepare artillery encampments on the right bank of the Terek River to meet likely offensives of guerrillas," the spokesman said. "Available information suggests that Chechen guerrillas are suffering serious losses," said the spokesman, who was in neighboring Dagestan. He said a hospital in the Chechen the capital Grozny was filled to capacity with wounded insurgents. Units of Russia's 58th Army had taken control of the highway linking Grozny with Nazran, the capital of Chechnya's eastern neighbor Ingushetia, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. The spokesman said the first phase of the anti-terrorist operation was complete and that the second phase include the regrouping of troops and upgrading of artillery positions. The air force would continue reconnaissance flights to locate guerrilla groups and their bases, the spokesman said. After weeks of air and artillery strikes, Russian troops were reported to be pushing closer to Grozny, in what Russia's top commander said would be the second phase of the military operation to destroy rebels throughout Chechnya. Col. Gen. Viktor Kazantsev said on Friday that his troops had finished creating a security zone in the north to seal off the militants, and that the second phase would begin today. By Friday evening, Russian troops had reached Tolstoy-Yurt, a village just 10 miles north of the center of Grozny. Tolstoy-Yurt itself was still controlled by the militants. The Russian command said its 3-week-old campaign was aimed at encircling militants who twice invaded Dagestan in August and September. The Russians have overrun Chechnya's northern plains, but balked at proceeding into the hilly terrain below the Terek River, fearing losses from hit-and-run raids by the militants. The Russian military spokesman said guerrillas "are closely observing the activities of federal troops in order to direct their artillery fire." The move toward Grozny was the first time Russians advanced deep inside western Chechnya south of the river. There was no indication they would try to enter the Chechen capital, but the ITAR-Tass news agency said late Friday that Russian forces had taken some strategic heights that gave a clear view of Grozny's northwest suburbs. Kazantsev said Friday that Russian troops in Chechnya suffered 47 people killed and 33 wounded since Sept. 25. They also lost one tank, five armored personnel carriers and two other combat vehicles to enemy fire. At least 1,500 rebels have been killed, he said. Chechen officials have said that hundreds of Russian soldiers have been killed, and put their own losses at just a few dozen. Neither side's claims could be independently confirmed. |
Conflict in East Timor Leads to DeathsThe peacekeepers ‹ a six-man patrol made up of British and Australian troops ‹ encountered the militia about 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of the frontier, said Col. Mark Kelly, a spokesman for the INTERFET peacekeeping mission. Though five militiamen initially attacked the patrol, as many as 20 may have joined in the hour-long firefight eventually, Kelly said. An INTERFET reaction force airlifted the patrol out of the area by helicopter while the skirmish continued. The gun battle occurred as several hundred Australian and British troops arrived in Boronaro, stronghold of the Falintil guerrilla movement. The militias have accused INTERFET of siding with the Falintil rebels, who battled Jakarta's rule for years. "At the end of the contact there were approximately three militia dead and 3 seemed to be wounded," Kelly told CNN. None of the peacekeepers were injured. It was the latest and most violent encounter along the border between West and East Timor, which voted for independence from Indonesia in an August 30 referendum. |
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