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58 Chechens killed in futile breakout bid

NAZRAN, Russia: Russian troops killed 58 Chechen fighters as they tried to break out of besieged Grozny and warplanes destroyed rebel heavy weapons in 180 raids over the past 24 hours, Russian news agencies said on Saturday.

They said the regional capital and mountain villages in the southern part of the rebel republic had borne the brunt of Russia's latest air and artillery attacks.

Warplanes carried out 180 sorties over Chechen territory in the past 24 hours, destroying a range of rebel targets including two anti-aircraft systems, seven mortar units and three armoured personnel carriers.

Itar-Tass news agency said 58 rebel fighters -- dismissed by Moscow as "bandits and terrorists" -- were killed while trying to break out of besieged Grozny into the southern mountains.

"After losing a third of their men, the bandits were forced to retreat into Grozny, leaving on the battlefield dead bodies, as well as a lot of weapons and ammunition," Tass quoted Russian Interior Ministry officials as saying.

The agencies said Russian troops had cemented their control of the Sharoi district in southern Chechnya near the administrative border with Dagestan after clashes on Friday which they said had left "several dozen" rebels dead.

RIA news agency said Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov had organised an estimated 1,500 fighters remaining in Grozny into small hit squads of five to 10 men each in order to streamline and boost resistance to the federal troops' advance.

In Reuters Television footage from Shali, a village southeast of Grozny, civilians said they were the main victims of the war, which has now raged for nearly four months.

"When will this war end? We are peaceful people, we are not bandits. We have had to live in the cellar for the past four days, not daring to go out," said Aset Mustayeva, 57, referring to the heavy Russian bombardment of her village.

Another local resident, Umar Khadjiev, 60, said the latest clashes had left many civilians wounded. "There are many injured here, including children, but we have no doctors, no Red Cross."

Western countries have criticised Russia's use of military force in Chechnya as excessive and indiscriminate. Moscow acknowledges that civilians are suffering but says it must crush the rebels, whom it accuses of terrorist attacks across Russia.-Reuters