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by Alvi Zakriyev NAZRAN, Russia, (AFP) - Fears of kamikaze attacks sparked a security clampdown in Chechnya on Tuesday ahead of a key independence anniversary, as Chechen fighters claimed six Russian dead in the nominal capital Grozny. Only military and emergency vehicles escaped a travel ban that remains in force until Friday, interior ministry spokesman Colonel Boris Luzin told the RIA-Novosti news agency. The measures were ordered ahead of Wednesday's anniversary of the storming of the local Soviet parliament in 1991 by separatists loyal to then Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev. The legislature's seizure triggered the chain of events that culminated in the 21-month bloody conflict with Moscow that ended in August 1996 with Grozny's de facto independence. "The security of interior ministry troops and important buildings has been increased," said Luzin, adding that the military feared Chechen fighters would launch suicide attacks against federal troops. The clampdown came as Chechnya's deputy to the Russian Duma, or lower house of parliament, complained of growing local resentment of federal troops in the shattered republic. "There are so many among the Russian troops who believe they are at war with the people" and not against the opposition, Aslanbek Aslakhanov complained in an interview with ORT public television. At least 33 servicemen died in early July when suicide bombers drove trucks packed with explosives into Russian military bases in Chechnya. The Chechen fighters claimed hundreds died in the attacks. Furious army chiefs blamed bungling interior ministry troops for the deaths, saying they had ignored orders to beef up security. Interior ministry officials meanwhile told AFP that the number of checkpoints had been sharply increased across the republic, a move that triggered an exodus of Chechens of fighting age. "Every time federal soldiers carry out mopping-up operations they detain a lot of people who haven't been involved in the fighting," Khamzat Isayev, 25, told AFP. "They have their papers checked and they are released. But they are abused and humiliated by the soldiers. "It's better for me to leave for a couple of weeks and come back later," said Isayev, who hails from the village of Alkhan-Kala, a few kilometers (miles) west of Grozny. Despite Russian claims to have snuffed out meaningful opposition military resistance, Chechen fighters claimed Tuesday to have killed six federal soldiers in Grozny. A spokesman for Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov said fighters led by warlord Khamzat Labazanov had killed the soldiers in clashes in Grozny's northeastern Staropromyslovsky district. State-run RTR television reported fighting in the same district after a military truck struck a landmine, and Russian military headquarters in Grozny's Khankala district said a police officer had died in an explosion. However, Chechnya commandant General Ivan Babichev dismissed the reports. "The situation in the city is stable and totally under control. Reports about fighting in the Staropromyslovsky district are nonsense," Interfax quoted him as saying. As the security forces braced for a wave of opposition attacks, Russia's second most senior general launched a thinly veiled attack on interior ministry troops tasked with policing the republic. Deputy Chief of Staff General Valery Manilov said sloppy security operations were undermining hard-won army gains. Following the end of the "military phase" of Russia's self-styled anti-"terrorist" operation on April 15th, Moscow's forces had failed to crush the plethora of armed groups who continue to harass federal forces, he said. "Just look at how they behave at checkpoints and how mopping-up operations are carried out," Manilov told RIA. "It's not surprising that the bandits can move around the republic almost unhindered and set up bases and stockpiles," he fumed. His comments were a clear swipe at interior ministry troops who are responsible for mopping-up operations and security checks once the army has taken an area. Despite their eviction from Grozny in February, Chechen fighters have staged a series of daring armed raids on Russian forces, with July's suicide bombings among the most spectacular. |
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