Dagestan ‘Abscess’ Worsens

Islamic rebels fighting in southern Russia claimed Sunday to have nearly completed the first stage of their campaign to split a new swath of territory from Moscow’s control and announced that they were almost ready to launch a second phase.

The assertions of the rebels, who crossed into the republic of Dagestan from the separatist republic of Chechnya just over a week ago, stood in stark contrast to those of the Russian military, which claimed to be only days away from regaining authority over Dagestan.

The Russians continued to pound guerrilla positions with bombs and missiles, and rebels fought hand to hand with federal forces in one battle early Sunday, according to the rebel side.

Magomed Tagayev, a spokesman for the rebels, claimed that they still held the areas they seized when they pushed into Dagestan, while Russian officials said the guerrillas retained control of four villages.

Tagayev said rebel leader Shamil Basayev had called a meeting of his military council, comprising rebel commanders, for today to discuss Phase Two of their operation, code-named Imam Gamzat-Bek.

Russia’s acting prime minister, Vladimir V. Putin, acknowledged Sunday that, even if Russia defeats the rebels, Dagestan will still be a sore spot.

“The thing is that this abscess, this boil, connected with the uncertainty in relations with the Chechen republic, will remain after the main terrorist groups are destroyed or pushed out of Dagestani territory,” Putin said in an interview on RTR television.

The northern Caucasus is Russia’s most unstable and violent region. Dagestan, Russia’s poorest republic, has high unemployment and more than 30 ethnic groups. Dagestani police and volunteers are fighting alongside Russian forces to oust the rebels.

Chechnya is a crime-ridden republic over which Moscow lost control after the Chechens defeated Russia in a 1994-96 war.

Russian military officials claimed Sunday to have beaten back a group of rebel reinforcements that arrived in Dagestan from Chechnya overnight and to have taken a strategic peak that has changed hands several times in the fighting. They also said they killed more than 80 fighters Sunday--a claim denied by the rebels.

The rebels said they had shot down a Russian plane, but that claim was denied by Russia’s air force headquarters.

Igor Senokosenko, a Dagestan Interior Ministry spokesman, said the federal side was moving slowly to avoid casualties.

“The lessons of the Chechen war have been learned well. Artillery and aviation work hard first, and then we just clear the terrain,” he said.