DATE=10/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA-CHECHNYA (L)
NUMBER=2-255152
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian military leaders say they aim to
command the heights around Chechnya's capital, Grozny.
But officials say there will be no large-scale
military operation in the region. Moscow
Correspondent Eve Conant reports Russian artillery
continues to pound targets near the capital.
TEXT: Military officials say the next step in what
they call their -- anti-terrorist campaign -- is to
control the strategic heights around Chechnya's
capital. But they have avoided saying if Russian
forces plan to take and control Grozny.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says (Sunday)
Moscow will not carry out, what he called -- a large-
scale military action with tanks and troops. But he
said air strikes against the breakaway republic would
continue.
The Interfax news agency reports Russian bombs hit a
cement factory 25-kilometers from Grozny, and that
forces are also shelling villages near the capital.
Prime Minister Putin says Russian forces are trying to
avoid civilian casualties. But refugees fleeing the
republic accuse Russia of randomly attacking civilian
villages. More than 150-thousand Chechens have fled
to neighboring Ingushetia to escape the air raids,
with a reported five-thousand arriving in the past two
days.
Russian leaders have vowed to wipe out Islamic
militants in Chechnya. The militants twice led
incursions into neighboring Dagestan in an attempt to
establish an independent Islamic state. Moscow
officials also blame the militants for a series of
deadly apartment bombings that killed nearly 300-
people.
Prime Minister Putin has said Moscow will negotiate
with Chechnya's President Aslan Maskhadov only if he
first hands over the militant leaders. (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/ALW/RAE
17-Oct-1999 09:06 AM EDT (17-Oct-1999 1306 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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