Rebel group surrounded in Chechen mountains

A special operation to search for and destroy a rebel group surrounded in the mountains of Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt district may finish soon. Chechen law enforcers claim a group of 40 to 70 allegedly commanded by Aslan Maskhadov's security chief Akhmed Avdorkhanov and Dagestani field commander Rappani Khalilov is surrounded and cannot break through the encirclement. A source at the Chechen Internal Affairs Ministry flatly denies reports spread the day before that the rebels had managed to come out of the ring. "Some of them are dead or wounded. It has been monitored that there are Arab mercenaries in the group. They will surrender or be destroyed very soon," the source said.

Nozhay-Yurt residents say there have been no operations in the area where the rebel group is allegedly surrounded in the last two or three days. They think this proves the group has still managed to break through the encirclement.

The operation that began on 24 February involves special military units and more than 1,500 officers of republican law enforcement agencies. The military also uses helicopters to search for and attack rebel groups.