Russian Troops Target Rebel Chiefs in ChechnyaRussian federal forces have launched special operations against rebel chiefs inside the breakaway republic of Chechnya, wounding three of them, the Interfax news agency reported Saturday.The wounded are eminent rebel field commanders Arbi Barayev, Akhmed Zakayev and Ruslan Gelayev, Interfax said, quoting Colonel General Vyacheslav Tikhomiron, commander of the federal interior troops in the area. Rebels headed by the three resisted federal troops for three days in the village of Gekhi, Tikhomiron said. He said 85 people in the village were exposed for having links with the militants and that 30 of them were killed in detention when they put up armed resistance, Interfax reported. "Appropriate work is under way with the rest," the commander said. Another special operation against "a well-known field commander " continues in Chechnya, the general said. He refused to further identify the targeted rebel leader. |
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