DATE=8/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / DAGESTAN (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252865
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Senior Russian officials say the fight against
Islamic rebels in the southern republic of Dagestan
could be over within days. But as V-O-A's Peter
Heinlein reports from Moscow, the insurgents appear to
be resisting all efforts to dislodge them.
TEXT: Russian army chief of staff General Anatoly
Kvashnin says his troops are on schedule to smash the
Dagestani insurgency by the end of the week, as Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin predicted.
///KVASHNIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE
TO...///
He says -- we will proceed with liberating the region,
and will comply with the schedule set for us.
General Kvashnin also said Russian jets would not
hesitate to attack suspected rebel positions inside
the breakaway republic of Chechnya, just a few-
kilometers from the combat zone.
General Kvashnin told reporters in Moscow (Tuesday)
that one main objective of the campaign is to kill the
leader of the insurgents, renegade Chechen warlord
Shamil Basayev.
/// ACT KVASHNIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE
TO... ///
He says -- we must annihilate him so he does not kill
more people. The general described the rebel leader
as a bandit with no political goals.
The insurgents have said they want to drive Russian
forces out of the region to establish an independent
Islamic state. Mr. Basayev was one of the chief
architects of the successful Chechen insurgency of the
mid-1990's.
At that time General Kvashnin was the commander of
Russian forces in the northern Caucasus region.
In a sign of the government's increased determination
to end the fighting, the Defense Ministry has been
given formal command over the anti-insurgency
operation, though Interior Ministry troops will
continue to be heavily involved.
During the past week, there have been highly-
publicized reports of feuding between Interior and
Defense Ministry planners. Similar conflicts played a
key role in the failure of Russian forces in Chechnya.
Sources in the combat zone say government troops are
relying mainly on air power and heavy artillery
against suspected insurgent positions in the sparsely
populated Dagestani mountains. Government officials
say hundreds of rebels have died in the fighting,
possibly as many as half the entire insurgent force.
But an Associated Press reporter visiting the rebel
camps Monday said she saw little evidence of
casualties. She said the insurgents are still in full
control of three villages, and said 120-fresh-fighters
had arrived Monday from Chechnya.
Rebel sources have said their casualties have been
minimal, but there has been no independent
confirmation of either side's claims. In the past,
both sides have been known to exaggerate enemy
casualty figures, while downplaying their own.
(SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/GE/RAE
17-Aug-1999 11:07 AM LOC (17-Aug-1999 1507 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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