DATE=8/18/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / DAGESTAN (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-252903
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: THIS REPORT UPDATES CR 2-252893 ///
INTRO: At least eight Russian soldiers have been
killed in a day of heavy fighting with Islamic rebels
in the mountains of Dagestan. V-O-A Moscow
correspondent Peter Heinlein reports the casualties
came as Russia's top defense officials arrived in the
region to direct the anti-insurgency campaign.
TEXT: Deputy Interior Minister Valeri Fyodorov told
reporters in the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala,
(Wednesday) that his forces had suffered heavy losses
during an attempt to storm the rebel-held village of
Tando near the border with Chechnya.
/// FYODOROV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says, "We lost 61 men, including dead and wounded."
He added that, at the end of the day, Tando and two
neighboring villages remain under rebel control.
The casualties were the worst yet for Russian troops
in 12 days of fighting with Muslim insurgents in the
sparsely-populated Dagestani mountains. And they came
as Russia's top security officials, Defense Minister
Igor Sergeyev and Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo,
flew to Makhachkala to take personal control of the
anti-insurgency operation.
President Boris Yeltsin this week placed the defense
minister in overall charge of the campaign, even
though Interior Ministry troops are doing the bulk of
the fighting.
Official sources say the battle for Tando village has
been raging for several days, with Russian forces
raining bombs on suspected rebel positions around the
village perimeter.
Fighting was also reported around a strategic mountain
pass linking the combat zone with the rebels' staging
area across the border in Chechnya. A government
statement says troops succeeded in blocking the pass
using missile and air strikes, then mined the roads to
keep rebel fighters from moving in to clear the
rubble.
The flurry of activity appears to be part of an effort
to fulfill Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's prediction
that the Dagestan campaign would be over within two
weeks. News agencies say 500 additional troops and 30
additional artillery pieces arrived in the combat zone
Tuesday.
Government sources report Russian jets carried out 24
air strikes Tuesday, and destroyed a rebel-operated
radio and television transmitter. More strikes were
reported Wednesday.
There has been no clear information about rebel
casualties. Russian sources say at least 450
insurgents have been killed, but there was no
independent confirmation. An Associated Press
reporter who visited the rebel-held villages this week
said she saw additional fighters arriving, and little
that would indicate heavy casualties. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/KL
18-Aug-1999 12:38 PM EDT (18-Aug-1999 1638 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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