Grozny Rebels Outmaneuver Russians

Chechen fighters fiercely resisted attempts by Russian forces to take a strategic square in the rebel capital, Grozny, on Tuesday, attacking from the front and the rear to stymie the Russians’ drive.

Russian troops returning to Gudermes from Grozny said federal forces were still at least 400 yards from Minutka Square, which has been under siege for several days.

Russian media said rebel snipers were slowing the advance into the center of the ruined city, where an estimated 8,000 to 25,000 civilians remained trapped in cellars with little or no food.

The square is near a Russian-held bridge that crosses the Sunzha River, which runs through Grozny. If captured, it could give Russian forces leverage to move into the downtown area. Capturing the capital would be the war’s biggest political prize so far.

After three weeks of virtual silence on the death toll, during which the armed forces have reported daily losses in single digits, military and police officials were quoted by Interfax news agency as saying 1,173 troops had been killed in nearly six months of fighting.

The death count among Russian soldiers has come under greater scrutiny in recent weeks as fighting has intensified, with some media saying the military had tried to hide losses.

As Russian aircraft and artillery continued their attacks in the breakaway province’s steep southern mountains, where an estimated 6,000 rebels are based, a prominent international human rights group Tuesday criticized Russia’s offensive.

The Council of Europe human rights organization said it would debate on Thursday whether to suspend Russia over allegations that its forces have committed atrocities in Chechnya.

Exclusion from the body would mark a serious setback to Russia’s post-Communist attempts to integrate with the rest of Europe and could severely embarrass acting President Vladimir V. Putin.

While council members said Russia was guilty of indiscriminate bombings, detaining innocent people and restricting refugees’ freedom of movement, Russian officials argued that Chechen rebels had committed far more serious violations than federal troops.

Meanwhile, U.N. officials said the flow of refugees in recent days had been especially high, with 2,000 to 2,500 Chechens crossing daily into the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia.

An estimated 230,000 refugees have fled the fighting in Chechnya.

Concern over diseases, especially tuberculosis, among the refugees is mounting, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency said.

Russian troops entered breakaway Chechnya in September after Chechen-based militants stormed villages in the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan.

The rebels were also blamed for a series of deadly bombings of apartment houses in Moscow and two other cities in September, but security officials said Tuesday that there was not a single ethnic Chechen among 14 people suspected as organizers of the blasts. All the suspects had been trained in Chechnya, Interfax reported.