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Chechen mujahideen kill nine Russian troops in Grozny
Kavkaz Center Mujahideen fired on a military convoy in Chechnya's capital, killing nine Russian servicemen, an official said Friday, while election officials began planning for a referendum that the Kremlin hopes will push this war-ravaged republic toward stability. In the last 24 hours, 15 servicemen have been killed and 11 wounded in rebel attacks in Chechnya, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said on condition of anonymity. Nine of the soldiers died when their convoy came under Mujahideen fire Thursday in Jokhar (Grozny), the capital. Two Mujahideen were killed in the fighting, and three more Russian servicemen were wounded. Troops sealed off all roads leading into and out of one of Chechnya's largest towns, Argun, on Friday and detained 54 people suspected of collaborating with the rebels, the official said. More than 100 suspects were taken into custody in Jokhar and three other towns. Maskhodov's apparently pushing the level of violence prior to the referendum. It's the same tactics the jihadis used in Kashmir... The violence comes as Moscow ploughs ahead with a constituional referendum opposed by the rebels and the population. About 530,000 Chechen residents and 38,000 federal troops permanently stationed in Chechnya will be eligible to vote in the March 26 constitutional referendum, said Alexander Veshnyakov, chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission. ''We will do all that is possible to create the conditions for a democratic and free vote'', Veshnyakov said. Chechens must be able to ''cast their vote freely, with no one prosecuting them for participating or for not participating,'' he said. The next step will be for the Maskhadov thugs to order the populace not to vote, and assure them they'll be killed if they do. This is Islamic democracy in action... Violence is still part of daily life in Chechnya, and many Chechens and human rights advocates have argued that the referendum will be a farce without first establishing peace. So if the Maskhadov thugs and their Arab controllers won't ever, ever, under any circumstances, allow peace, then there can't ever, ever, be a referendum, right? Puts the control of events with them, doesn't it? Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-13 |
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