22:14, 1 December 2006

Exact number of militants in Chechnya is unknown

Different figures of the number of militants who are still hiding in the mountain part of Chechnya, made public by military officials and representatives of local authorities, give grounds to suppose that the exact number is still unknown.

About a month ago, general-colonel Yevgeniy Baryaev, Commander of the Russian Army Grouping in North Caucasus, stated that in Chechnya mountains "about 700 members of bandit formations are hiding." A couple of days ago, after liquidation in Dagestan of Jordanian Abu Havs, one of militants' leaders, Ramzan Kadyrov, premier of the Chechen government, estimated the militants' strength to be 150-200 persons.

"This enormous difference in the numbers of militants, acting in the territory of the Republic, evidences that neither the servicemen nor the local authorities know their exact number," one of local political experts thinks.

"We may offer another explanation. The army officials may willingly overstate the number of militants to justify their activity, which mainly comprise practically incessant artillery bombardments," the source said.

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent