Russia Steps Up Chechnya Offensive

Russian troops hunted down rebels in Chechnya on Saturday in a fresh series of “special operations,” Russia’s media reported.

News agencies, quoting the military in the separatist southern region of Russia, said government forces had killed 10 insurgents during several days of the operations and detained more than 80 people accused of taking part in or aiding rebel activities. Two senior rebel commanders were killed, the media said.

The operations were reportedly underway in a number of regions south and east of Grozny, the Chechen capital--the mountainous terrain in which rebels have flourished despite Russia’s claim to control the entire region.

The offensive was launched in the middle of a three-day weekend marking International Women’s Day, one of the biggest public holidays in Russia and other former Soviet states.

Russia’s top soldier in Chechnya, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Moltenskoi, told NTV television that forces in the town of Stariye Atagi had killed rebel commander Zelimkhan Sadayev, who was accused of killing service members and civilians working with Russian authorities.

NTV showed what Moltenskoi said was Sadayev’s body on the ground, his face covered with a sheet. Nearby was an array of seized weapons and ammunition.

Moltenskoi said Sadayev had been responsible for the deaths last month of four officers of Russia’s FSB domestic intelligence agency, which oversees operations in Chechnya, and for killing civilians who worked with Russian authorities.

Television also showed Russian soldiers conducting a sweep in Grozny’s October district, questioning residents on a street and destroying illegal oil refineries.

The Interfax news agency said forces operating on the outskirts of Urus-Martan had killed another prominent rebel leader.

The last concerted series of Russian “special operations” was launched in a period that extended through New Year’s festivities. Authorities said then that forces had killed 92 rebels, prompting the U.S. to accuse Russia of using “overwhelming force” against the separatists, its first such criticism of Moscow since Sept. 11.