Locals of Vedeno district in Chechnya flee from their houses

Locals of the Vedeno district in Chechnya are disturbed by the situation in the district.

Residents of the villages in the district prefer to leave their houses due to the rise of tension in the area, locals told the Caucasus Times correspondent.

"The outskirts of the villages in the district are under permanent bombing and shelling; sweeps and raids with lots of young men seized go unabated here. So far, we have not managed to get firewood for the winter season due to constant shelling of the forestland around here. We may encounter Russian commandos conducting their task operations in the forest any time and get in troubles as alleged militants. I think the Russians just want to force us out of here," says Movladi Yusupov, 35, a local man of the Selmentauzen village.

According to the Russian command, the district turns out to be a base of Shamil Basayev's and Abu al-Walid's units of guerilla. They get shelter in the villages supported by locals who sympathize with them openly or secretly. Therefore, the Vedeno district has been the most restless region thus far in the republic.

"The locals around here are all either relatives or close friends, thus bound to support each other. There the mentality of the Chechen people should be taken into account. The locals supply the militants with food, help to deliver weapon and ammunition for the upcoming winter season when they used to have troubles. Actually, we target the militants' bases and weapon caches in our task operations to get them destroyed, at times by means of air forces and artillery. Well, we disturb the locals, but there is nothing to be done. This is a war, you know," an unnamed officer of the military commandant's office said in his interview with the Caucasus Times correspondent.

Meanwhile, several locals have been killed and wounded in a shelling of the Makhkety village of the Vedeno district by the Russian military lately. The regional law-enforcement agencies neither confirm nor refute the civilian casualties report.