Militants leave Chechen mountains, local authorities assert

In Chechnya, power agents do not register any militants' mobile or radio talks in one of the most troubled regions of Chechnya - the Vedeno District. On this basis, local authorities have concluded that rebels had left the district. In the opinion of local observers, members of armed groupings have long quitted the practice of negotiation on the air.

At the end of last week, Shemil Magomaev head of the district administration, stated at the meeting with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov that the mountainous Vedeno District had no more traces of the presence there of illegal armed formations (IAFs). As a rule, they deploy their camps and bases in remote wooded areas of highland regions of Chechnya.

"We have every reason to believe that IAF members have relocated to adjacent territories. It's possible that their leaders are no longer in Russia," said Magomaev during his meeting with Kadyrov.

Meanwhile, local experts believe that it is premature to talk about absence of members of armed underground in this or that region of the republic only because their telephone or radio communications are no longer registered.

"Today the country has almost no large militants' regiments. They prefer to act in small groups of five to ten persons and unite, if necessary, into larger groupings, as it was on August 29 during the attack on the village of Tsentoroi. Leaders of the armed underground have long refused from using walkie-talkies or cell phones, since they are well aware that their talks can be instantly detected," said an expert, who asked not to name him.

According to the source, the militants would rather use couriers from among locals who know the localities than to reveal themselves by speaking on air.

"Militants have their bases and camps in almost all foothill and mountainous areas, where we have dense forests; they are quite free to move at fairly long distance; if necessary, they move from one district to another, and even to neighbouring Caucasus republics. Their long silence in wireless communications may also indicate preparation of some major action," another local observer believes.