Chechen guerrillas killed at least 36 people and wounded scores in five suicide bomb attacks on Russian bases over a 24-hour period, authorities said yesterday.
Officials warned the death toll could rise as rebels spoke of a new campaign to rid Chechnya of "the aggressor", saying two battalions of suicide bombers were "ready to die for Islam".
A Kremlin spokesman said 36 Russians were killed and 74 wounded when suicide bombers drove trucks packed with explosives at the bases. He said the death toll was likely to go up.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying 38 people were killed, 76 injured and 25 unaccounted for. The Kremlin spokesman said he could not confirm those figures.
There were reports that some of the casualties were civilians.
A Chechen separatist spokesman, speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, said the bombing scenes were covered with Russian corpses. He put the total number of dead at more than 400.
President Vladimir Putin, whose election in March was smoothed by the popularity of his military offensive in the breakaway province, sent condolences to families of the victims.
The worst losses were caused by an explosives-laden truck that crashed through the gate of a police hostel near Argun, 10 km east of the devastated Chechen provincial capital, Grozny, on Sunday.
Itar-Tass said 31 servicemen were killed and 25 military police officers were missing under the rubble after the truck exploded close to the two-storey building.