Russia Bombs Rebels Fleeing to Chechnya
Large-scale fighting between Russian forces and Islamic militants in southern Russia was mostly over by Thursday, though tensions remained high over reported attacks on breakaway Chechnya.
Russia’s military said Thursday that its jets pounded Islamic fighters fleeing to Chechnya on Wednesday after a failed invasion of the neighboring republic of Dagestan that began Aug. 7. But officials gave conflicting reports of whether the strikes hit Chechnya, which remains part of Russia but has slipped out of Moscow’s control since rebels fought a 1994-96 war for independence.
Chechen officials said Russian jets made 16 bombing runs in Chechnya on Wednesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s media center in Dagestan said Russian jets bombed the militants within Chechnya. But Defense Minister Igor D. Sergeyev and Air Force Chief of Staff Anatoly Kornukov later denied that Chechen territory had been hit.
Russia’s Col. Gen. Viktor Kazantsev acknowledged Thursday that 70 Russian troops have been killed in the Dagestani fighting.
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