Russian troops swoop down on rebel stronghold

MOSCOW, MARCH 9: Crack Russian troops blasted their way into a village in the foothills of Chechnya's southern mountains on Thursday in a ...

MOSCOW, MARCH 9: Crack Russian troops blasted their way into a village in the foothills of Chechnya’s southern mountains on Thursday in a move to block guerrillas from fanning out into the valley below.

Russia’s NTV television quoted the military as saying it had taken full control of Komsomolskoye, a village below the mouth of the steep Argun mountain gorge, the last major rebel stronghold which Russia said it occupied a week ago.Komsomolskoye had been occupied for days by rebel fighters, under constant Russian bombardment.

There was no word on whether the Russians had captured rebel commander Ruslan Gelayev. They had earlier said he was trapped in the village with up to 30 men, but guerrilla chiefs have routinely escaped from Russian encirclement in the past.

Story continues below this ad

NTV showed footage of elite troops storming the village, blasted into ruins. Warplanes screamed overhead. Explosions sent black and orange fireballs hurling into the sky. Both sides also reported heavy fighting in the mountains to the southeast near the villages of Ulus-kert and Selmentausen.

Russia said last week, it had crushed organised Chechen resistance after seizing the last rebel stronghold, the village of Shatoi in the Argun gorge. But the rebels say they are now dispersing to strike Russian positions throughout Chechnya.

Last week, they killed 20 Russian paramilitary police in Anambush near the capital Grozny, and dozens of paratroops – Russia has yet to say how many – in a clash in the mountains.

The Chechen rebel website kavkaz.Org has said rebels entered the lowland villages of Samashki in the West and Stariye-Atagi in the south, both of which were taken by Russian troops months ago, and have sent groups into the ruins of Grozny.

Story continues below this ad

Russia’s RIA news agency said one Russian policeman was killed when a checkpoint near Stariye-Atagi came under fire overnight. Renewed attacks in the lowlands have cast doubt on Russia’s assurances that it is close to pacifying the rebel region after more than five months of war.

"One of the main tasks ahead for local authorities is to return people to normal life because many of them are still suffering internally from the tensions of war," Russia’s Emergencies Minister, Sergei Shoigu, told Itar-tass news agency.

Shoigu said his ministry was feeding 60,000 people each day in Chechnya, including 18,000 still living amid the ruins of Grozny, which Russia seized at the beginning of last month after razing it to the ground.

A delegation from the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe was in Moscow and planned to visit the conflict zone. The delegation’s head, Britain’s Lord Judd, said he intended to gather information for an objective report on the situation.