20000401

High security

on Chechen,

Dagestan border

MOSCOW: Security measures have been boosted on the border between Chechnya and Dagestan due to fears of a new incursion by armed Chechen groups into the neighbouring republic, NTV television reported on Thursday.

Some 2,000 fighters from Chechnya had crossed into Dagestan in August and September, occupying several villages, before being repulsed by Russian forces.

The Russian army then continued its operation in the breakaway republic of Chechnya, first with bombing and then on October 1 unleashing a land operation that is still underway.

"We will not allow a repeat of the incursion of armed forces from outside," 58th Army commander General Vladimir Shamanov told NTV from Dagestan.

Russian Interior Ministry units previously stationed in Chechnya were heading for Dagestan to step up security on the border, where police posts in the Novolakskoye district facing Nozhai-Yurt in Chechnya came under fire nearly every night, NTV said.

Concentrations of Chechen fighters had been reported near Zandak, a Chechen town close to the border, a Dagestani policeman told the television station. He said tension on the border had risen on Sunday, the day of the Russian presidential election, and had not abated.ÑAFP