Yeltsin Orders Rebels Crushed

President Boris N. Yeltsin cracked the whip in Moscow on Tuesday after Russia’s generals were caught off guard by a new Islamic rebel onslaught in the southern republic of Dagestan.

Chairing a meeting of his Security Council, Yeltsin described the rebels in Dagestan as degenerates and murderers and told his generals to crush them.

Earlier, he had lashed out at the generals themselves for being unprepared for a devastating car bomb attack and a major new rebel advance over the weekend.

Russian forces, facing their toughest security challenge since the disastrous 1994-96 war in the neighboring republic of Chechnya, have so far failed to repel the latest incursion of Chechen-led rebels into Dagestan or to tackle a rebel stronghold in the center of the republic.

In televised comments, Yeltsin said, “This can only be explained by the carelessness of the military.”