|
Russian forces advance toward center of Grozny, rebels resist GROZNY, Russia (AP) - The Russian military said today that its forces were close to seizing a key suburb of Grozny, but acknowledged that rebel fighters holding the city center were putting up fierce resistance.
Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said federal troops should take nearly full control of the suburb of Staraya Sunzha by the end of the day. However, he said battles were raging in the northwestern and southwestern outskirts of the city.
``The federal forces' next tasks will be solved observing the main criterion: minimizing losses among personnel. There will be no frontal confrontations,'' he said.
Russian military officials have declared repeatedly they will not storm the Chechen capital with massed infantry units because they want to avoid the huge losses the military incurred in the 1994-96 Chechen war. Instead, small Russian detachments advance until they run into rebel resistance and then pull back while artillery and tanks bombard the insurgents.
However, the military appears determined to continue the 5-day-old, massive offensive on Grozny, the last major city still held by the Chechen rebels and the biggest political trophy. Sergeyev expressed optimism that the battle for Grozny would be the last major confrontation in the war.
``In my opinion, the Chechnya operation, at least its active phase, is nearing completion,'' he said.
However, even if Grozny falls, the war is likely to drag on, with the rebels waging a guerrilla campaign from the rugged mountains of the south.
In spite of Sergeyev's upbeat outlook, the militants continued to hold the center of Grozny in a tight grip. Some rebel bands patrolled several neighborhoods, while others took shelter in fortified positions. None showed signs of wanting to pull out of the capital soon.
Mumadi Saidayev, a Chechen commander, said today that rebels could break out any time, but ``nobody is considering this task, nor has it been discussed,'' the Interfax news agency reported.
The rebels' strategy has hinged on drawing the Russian forces into a pitched battle in Grozny, where the rebels' skill as street fighters is likely to outweigh the Russian advantage in tanks and artillery.
However, the militants have been concerned about ammunition shortages and are finding it tough to slip supplies through the Russian blockade around the city.
Gen. Valery Manilov, first deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, said the federal forces were concentrating on isolating the rebels from one another, fighting slowly from neighborhood to neighborhood.
``It is hard, bloody work,'' Manilov told NTV television.
Some 400 pro-Moscow Chechens, led by former Grozny Mayor Bislan Gantamirov, were fighting in northwestern Grozny today, Interfax reported, citing Russia's military headquarters in the North Caucasus.
Federal troops, backed by heavy air and artillery strikes, destroyed 18 rebel bases and camps, a radio center and two air defense units in and around Grozny on Tuesday, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
In all, Russian jets and helicopter gunships flew 53 combat missions over the past 24 hours, targeting suspected rebel positions in Grozny and in the southern mountains, the military said today. The military said rebels were trying to recapture control of roads in the south.
Russian forces and rebels clashed in the Kharachoi, Vedeno and Serzhen-Yurt districts of the south, along a key road leading to neighboring Georgia, the military said.
In Moscow, the Federal Security Service announced today that what it called a terrorist-training school had been discovered in the southwestern Chechen town of Urus-Martan, which is already under the control of Russian forces.
In the school, security agents found explosives similar to those used in apartment bombings that killed 300 people in three Russian cities in the fall, ITAR-Tass reported.
Those bombings, as well as Chechen rebel raids into the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan, were the main pretext for the Russian offensive in Chechnya.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Tampa Bay Online | Tampa Tribune | Weather Center | Florida Travel