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Chechen Muslim Separatists Vow To Escalate Military Operations
CAIRO, Feb 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Chechen separatists said this week they have stepped up operations in Grozny, Chechnya, against units of the Russian army, and vowed to increase attacks.
"Mujahideen units have stepped up operations across the land of Chechnya," said a press release sent by the Qoqaz news service, the mouthpiece of the Chechen separatist movement.
"Grozny has seen a sharp increase in the rate of attacks upon Russian forces," the press release said, and without providing exact figure added that there were "deaths of a number of Russian soldiers."
The separatists said that a Commander Yarmook's unit used RPGs (shoulder-fired light anti-armor weapon) in order to destroy two Russian fuel tanks in the past two weeks.
The Chechens, who are fighting a separatist campaign against Russia in order to create their own Islamic state, said they would further escalate operations to gain independence from the Russian federation.
"The Russian military will find this winter as dangerous and lethal as was last winter," the press release said.
"The Mujahideen have gained considerable battle-experience, and in particular, have learned much in the field of guerilla warfare."
There was no immediate reaction from Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia said Tuesday it would keep some 5,000 troops stationed in Chechnya after the first phase of a planned troop withdrawal from the province was complete, news agencies reported.
General Valery Manilov, Russian military deputy chief of staff, gave no specific timetable for the pullout. Russian generals had previously said that some 22,000 soldiers would remain stationed in Chechnya on a permanent basis.
Up to 80,000 Russian troops, including 40,000 soldiers from the defense ministry, are currently believed to be fighting in Chechnya, where Moscow launched what it has called an "anti-terrorist" operation on October 1, 1999.
Manilov's comments followed President Vladimir Putin's decision last month to start removing army troops from the republic and handing over the operation's command to the Federal Security Services (FSB, formerly KGB).
Yet details of the operation remain vague, with Russian generals appearing to support a heavier military presence in Chechnya than the pro-Moscow administrators in the separatist province.
Moscow's estimates of the number of armed Muslim separatists in the province also vary, with most generals placing the separatist force at 1,000 to 5,000.
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