Russia's special forces have launched a large operation in Grozny, the Chechen capital, to capture warlords who have threatened to carry out terrorist attacks in the wake of killing of rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov by Federal Security troops, last week. ‘‘Chechnya’s secret services have received information from militants detained earlier that extremist warlords Shamil Basayev and Abdul Khalid Sadulayev, whom Basayev named the successor to Aslan Maskhadov, plan to stage a series of major terrorist acts in Grozny,’’ a spokesman for the regional headquarters for counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, said. Basayev and Saidulayev have ordered militants to carry out attacks in the near future as they fear being left without backing from foreign extremist organisations, he said. The FSB has announced another $10 million reward for information to capture Basayev.
