|
|
 |
World | ||||||||||||
|
General: Russia Loses 2,036 Men in North CaucasusAbout 2,036 Russian servicemen have been killed and 6,076 wounded in the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, a ranking Russian military officer said Friday.The figures represent losses incurred in fighting in both Dagestan and Chechnya, the Interfax news agency quoted First Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel General Valery Manilov as saying. In the last week alone, 45 Russian servicemen were killed and 151 wounded, Manilov said. The Russian military campaign started last September following Chechen armed incursions into neighboring Dagestan and a series of explosions that killed more than 300 people in Moscow and two other Russian cities. The blasts were also blamed on Chechen militants. Manilov said although the federal forces have taken control of Chechnya, there are still 4,000 rebels remaining in the breakaway republic, with 2,000 in the southern mountains, 1,000 in Vedeno district and another 1,000 in the Nozhai-Yurt district. Russia's Eastern Army Group has been ordered to destroy the nearly 1,000 rebels surrounded in Vedeno district, Manilov said. Small groups of rebels are scattered throughout the valley of Chechnya, Manilov said, while those in the west of Urus-Martan are attempting to fight their way into neighboring Ingushetia, another tiny Russian republic. Rebels in the southern mountains may try to flee to the former Soviet republic of Georgia when the snow melts, but Russian units will not allow their flight, Manilov said. Meanwhile, he said federal troops are prepared to eliminate the 400 or so rebels in Grozny, the Chechen capital.
 In This Section 
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright by People's Daily Online, all right reserved | | Mirror in U.S. | Mirror in Japan | Mirror in Edu-Net | Mirror in Tech-Net | |
