Kavkaz News: 13 Wounded Mujahideen Captured

The following is a transcript from....http://www.chechnya.xnet.is/... the official news agency of the Chechen rebels. Translated news reports from March 20th to March 22nd follow.

TRANSCRIPT BEGINS

Wednesdays, March 22nd, 2000
Kavkaz Center reports:
Near the Mouth of Argun Valley. 13 Wounded Mujahideen Captured by the Russians

Mobile units of the mujahideen continue to be active in various regions of the ChRI, particularly in the districts of Urus-Martan, Sharoy, Shatoy, and Vedeno. Sporadic shooting took place in the region of the villages of Saadi-Khutor, Goyskoye, and Alkhazurovo during recent days.

A group of Chechen fighters attacked the aggressors when three BMPs were moving towards Alkhazurovo. One BMP was knocked out, and the enemy retreated.

At the northern outskirts of Goyskoye one BMP was destroyed by the mujahideen using a remote-controlled mine. In fire-fights 5 Russian were killed.

The armed clashes in the southwestern regions of Chechnya go on.

The Chechen side announced that 13 wounded mujahideen fell into the hands of the Russians in Saadi-Khutor. It had not been possible to evacuate them. The aggressors in Saadi-Khutor also took 34 civilians as hostages. Among them are women and elderly persons wounded by the Russian bombing and shelling of Saadi-Khutor.

Russians Deploying Troops to Vedeno

The Chechen command reports that the Russians have been deploying troops towards Vedeno for several days - in addition to the numerous formations that have already been concentrated in this region.

According to Chechen reconnaissance, the Russians are intending to begin acts of mass-repression of the Chechen population under the pretext of a so-called "repeated cleansing" of the villages. Many women, children, and elderly persons are leaving their villages.

Meanwhile, the Chechen mujahideen continue to redeploy their units to new stationing areas.

The Chechen command does not exclude a forthcoming intensification of the military situation.

No Letup in Fighting in the Cheberloy District

According to the Chechen side there is no letup in the combat activities in the Cheberloy District. The Russian units are periodically trying to break through the Chechen positions and to gain control of the main mountain routes linking the Cheberloy and the Sharoy Districts. All efforts of the Russians to capture the commanding height of Mount Surakh Lam have been frustrated; the height remains under the control of the mujahideen.

Severe armed clashes occurred near Khal-Keloy and Khorsenoy. The units of the mujahideen attacked the enemy several times. The Russians were fired at with mortars.The Chechen fighters also used uncontrolled air-ground S-8 rockets. 15 of these rockets were fired upon the enemy.

The mujahideen report about 30 Russians killed near Khorsenoy. The casualties of the mujahideen came to 2 men, and 7 mujahideen were wounded.

Latest Report from 'Human Rights Watch':
"U.N. Action on Chechnya Urged – Russian Investigations Not Serious, Says Rights Group"
"(New York, March 22, 2000) - Russian government investigations into atrocities committed in Chechnya have shown that they are unlikely to produce any serious result, Human Rights Watch said in letters sent to several European and U.S. foreign ministers today. The letters urged ministers to initiate or sponsor a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, now meeting in Geneva, condemning the abuses committed by Russian forces in Chechnya and setting in motion a "sustained and thorough" U.N. investigation.

Yesterday, the Russian military prosecutor's office said that its investigation had concluded Russian soldiers were not involved in the massacre of more than 60 civilians in the Grozny suburb of Aldi in early February. The massacre was first reported by Human Rights Watch, based on extensive and closely-corroborated testimony from witnesses and survivors of the massacre. In December, the military prosecutor also concluded that "no crime" had taken place in Alkhan-Yurt, where Human Rights Watch had found that at least fourteen civilians were summarily executed.
[... ...]

The text of the letter is available at http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/03/chech-letter.htm "

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Tuesday, March 21st, 2000
Kavkaz Center reports:
Robbery, Murder, and Hostage-Taking in the Occupied Territories
The outrages of the occupational forces on the territory of Chechnya continue. Robbery, murder, and hostage-taking have become a daily reality in the occupied villages and towns of the ChRI.

Hundreds of Chechen hostages are kept under unbearable circumstances in special railway carriages in Chervlyonnaya-Uzlovaya and in Gudermes. About 1,700 detainees of the concentration camp Chernokozovo are subjected to sadistic torture and humiliation. According to the Chechen Administration of Justice during the last week 12 hostages died of torture and 6 people were shot.

In Dzhokhar robbing and marauding continues. According to eye-witnesses the Russians are carrying off lavatory pans, sinks, window-frames, doors, etc. In the Staropromyslovsky District in the settlement of Beryoska seven people were shot. Three of them were elderly women living in Kameshchikov Street, among them Aset Sardalova, a teacher of the former 11th intermediate school.

Chechen Vice-President: No Negotiations with Russia
The Chechen vice-president Vakha Arsanov said to Kavkaz Center's correspondent that the military situation in Chechnya was difficult, but controllable and predictable.

Commenting on reports of Abu Movsayev (head of the Special Administration of the State-Committee of Defence of the ChRI) about certain representatives of the Kremlin suggesting negotiations, Arsanov said that any negotiations were pointless.

The Kremlin regime has staked everything on this, so the war is going to continue, even if the Russians would be forced to deploy their whole army to Chechnya. Arsanov regards the Kremlin's leaders as international terrorists, killers, and sadists. The war is going to be long and hard, and its result will be the destruction of Russianism, of Russian state terrorism, and of Kremlin banditry.

Chechen Attack near Khorsenoy
The Chechen sub-units continue to take the military initiative in various parts of the Argun Valley.

They attacked the Russians near Khorsenoy. On March 19th, the enemy moved towards the village and several Russian units fortified themselves at the access roads to the village. The mujahideen's assault units attacked frontally when supplementary Russian forces, armoured vehicles, and artillery arrived at the enemy's positions. With mobile 'Shmel' grenade launchers the Chechen fighters knocked out 6 armoured vehicles.

Having attacked the advance units of the enemy, the mujahideen were able to profit from the factor of surprise; after four hours of fighting the Russians started to retreat.

The Chechen command reports about 70 Russians killed and a great amount of weapons and war materiel captured. Two heavy mortars and several hundreds grenades were taken as booty by the mujahideen.

On the Chechen side 6 mujahideen fell.

The Russians retreated 4 kilometres.

Chechen Special Units are Active in the Urus-Martan District

During recent days special units of the Chechen mujahideen continued to carry out their assignments against the Russians in the Urus-Martan District. Mobile mujahideen groups attacked the enemy several times in Saadi-Khutor (Komsomolskoye), and near Alkhazurovo, Goyskoye, and Urus-Martan. In these operations 13 Russians were killed. The Chechens suffered no casualties, but 4 men were wounded.

General Hamzat Gilayev says that the circumstances in the Urus-Martan District remain difficult. He did not exclude that, in forthcoming days, combat activities might begin in the direct surroundings of Dzhokhar.

The inhabitants of Saadi-Khutor report mass-marauding of the aggressors in the northern part of the village. In this place several elderly men and women, who had sought refuge in their cellars during the fighting in the village, were shot by the Russians.

In the Mountains
The Chechen command announces that the combat actions in the Cheberloy and the Sharoy Districts have become stationary. The Russians continue to use their aviation, rockets, and chemical weapons.

The Chechens are in control of several commanding heights and of the main routes linking the Cheberloy and the Sharoy Districts. According to reports from the Chechen command, the Russians have been carrying out massive attacks on the Chechen positions since yesterday morning. Chechen scouting reports continued deployment of the aggressor's supporting forces to the region around the villages of Dai and Sharoy.

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Monday, March 20th, 2000
Kavkaz Center reports:
Special Units of the Mujahideen Active in the Urus-Martan District

Notwithstanding the Russian victory reports, the clashes in the Urus-Martan District continue. Special sub-units of the mujahideen are active in the regions of Saadi-Khutor (Komsomolskoye), Alkhazurovo, Goyskoye, and in the outskirts of Urus-Martan. Mobile groups of Chechen fighters are advancing to Saadi-Khutor and are engaging the Russians in surprise attacks.

The Chechen side announces that, according to the reports of the local commanders, the operations in the Urus-Martan District are being carried out successfully. In the course of the less intensive fighting of the last 24 hours about 15 Russians were killed. One BMP was knocked out. The mujahideen suffered no casualties.

Movladi Udugov Reports on a Session of the State-committee of Defence
Yesterday evening a session of the State-Committee of Defence of the Chechen Republic took place under the chairmanship of President Maskhadov. General Hamzat Gilayev was absent, but was linked to the session by means of telecommunications. Gilayev stayed at the operative base in the Black Mountains, from which he is commanding the operations of the mujahideen in the southwestern combat area.

During the session basic questions of the new stage of combat activities against the Russians were discussed.

According to Udugov, the overwhelming majority of the members of the State-Committee of Defence was categorically opposed to any negotiations with representatives of the Kremlin regime. According to Abu Movsayev (head of the Special Administration of the State-Committee of Defence), mediators of the Kremlin regime had proposed negotiations to the Chechen leadership.

Fighting in the Shatoy, Sharoy, and Cheberloy Districts
Units of the Chechen Armed Forces have intensified their activities in the Argun Valley. During the last three days intensive fighting took place in the districts of Shatoy, Sharoy, and Cheberloy.

In the Shatoy and Sharoy districts, the mobile sub-units of the mujahideen attacked the enemy, making use of light mortars and automatic grenade launchers (AGS). The mujahideen units who were attacking near Borsoy, Aslanbek Sheripov, and Sharoy were the most successful: they killed up to 25 so-called spetsnaz men.

In the Cheberloy District the combat actions are more intense. A great number of Russians and armoured vehicles are concentrating in this region. The enemy is using aviation, warheads with chemical warfare agents, and SS-21 and 'Scud' rockets. The mujahideen are applying the proven tactics of mobile defence in order to inflict the highest possible casualties on the Russians.

Alarming News from Dagestan
According to the prime-minister of the Islamic Leadership of Dagestan, Sirazhudin Ramazanov, alarming news are being received from mountainous Dagestan.

In several districts (Tsumadinkski, Tsuntinski, Gumbetovski, Buinakski, Botlikh) of this region so-called internal forces of the Russian ministry of the interior and criminal gangs oft the regime in Makhachkala are committing outrages.

Under the pretext of passport controls and search for "Wahabites" the houses of the Dagestanis are being ransacked. Hundreds of people have been arrested on the suspicion of supporting the "Chechen fighters". Dozens of cases of raping of Dagestani women by the occupation forces have been reported reliably.

To Ramazanov's eyes, the situation in Dagestan rouses and may explode every moment. He says the occupation forces and the Dagestani national traitors would be responsible for the possible consequences.

ENDS

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