60 Chechens Killed as Russia Bombs Base in Continuing Offensive

MOSCOW — 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.