60 Chechens Killed as Russia Bombs Base in Continuing Offensive
Russian forces beat back a separatist attack in southern Chechnya on Friday then bombed the rebel encampment, killing 60 Chechen fighters, the military said.
The airstrike came on the fourth day of a Russian offensive that has left more than 100 civilians dead or wounded in rebel-controlled towns.
The offensive contrasts sharply with President Boris N. Yeltsin’s promise to end the unpopular war and has made a mockery of the cease-fire he negotiated during his successful reelection campaign.
The military command said a unit near Shatoi, a town 28 miles south of the Chechen capital, Grozny, beat back a separatist attack early Friday, suffering no losses.
Troops then located the rebels’ base and unleashed “a mighty missile and bomb strike,” spokesman Igor Melnikov told the Itar-Tass news agency. The attack killed 60 rebels and destroyed a radio transmission center, he said.
There was no independent confirmation of the clash.
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