Moscow - Russian forces said yesterday they had encircled 400 to 800 rebel fighters in Chechnya's southern mountains as part of a new drive against the separatist guerrillas. At least 61 have been killed so far in the two-day operation, according to the Russian commander in Chechnya, Gen Gennady Troshev.
The drive in the NozhaiYurt and Vedeno districts in south-eastern Chechnya should lead to "the total destruction of the last rebel groups", one officer said.
President Vladimir Putin's startling 10-month rise from obscure intelligence chief to prime minister and then President has been largely aided by public support for the crackdown he masterminded in Chechnya. But the offensive has run out of steam after the army overran most of the republic apart from rebel bases in the remote mountains.
Moscow estimates some 3,000 fighters are still active in southern Chechnya, and government troops have so far failed to deliver a knock-out blow to the rebels.