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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Chechen hard boyz number 1,500, including 3-400 Arabs |
| 2005-02-27 |
| There are no more than 1500 armed militants in Chechnya, the republic's State Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov said on Friday. "As far as I know, the militants have a numerical strength limit of 1,500 men. This number is fully financed and supported from the East and from other countries," Dzhabrailov told a news conference at Interfax on Friday. Separatist emissaries are operating in villages inside and outside Chechnya to recruit fighters to maintain their strength at the 1,500 limit, he said. "Tentatively, it can be said that about 1,000 militants are permanently in camps in the mountainous parts of the Chechen Republic. Their hard core consists of groups under the control of [Shamil] Basayev and Arab mercenaries, of whom there are about 300 to 400 men," Dzhabrailov said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |