DATE=11/20/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHECHNYA/TROOPS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256389
BYLINE=WILLIAM GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian forces are continuing their assault on
the Chechnya capital, Grozny, and military officials
say they have nearly surrounded the city. Bill
Gasperini in Moscow has more details.
TEXT: Russian troops are advancing ever closer to
Grozny as warplanes and heavy artillery continue to
pound various parts of Chechnya.
Military officials say that Grozny is about 80 percent
surrounded and that troops should soon seize control
of the key Chechen stronghold, Bamut.
Bamut is located in southwestern Chechnya, the scene
of an intensive air and artillery assault in recent
weeks.
Many villages have come under attack, forcing more and
more civilians to flee into the neighboring region of
Ingushetia, where an estimated 200-thousand refugees
are now staying.
But Russian troops reportedly entered one key town
without resistance. Officials say troops went into
Achkoi-Martan after Chechen fighters withdrew.
A Russian general then held a meeting with about two-
thousand villagers to say they now had to live again
under federal control.
In one town right on the border, however, refugees
went back only to find that Russian troops had looted
their homes after seizing the area. Military
officials routinely deny that their troops target
civilians.
President Boris Yeltsin and other Russian leaders also
insist the offensive will continue despite widespread
international criticism about the high number of
civilian casualties.
Mr. Yeltsin strongly defended Russia's hard-line
policy in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday during the
international summit of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, or O-S-C-E.
However, Moscow did agree to allow an O-S-C-E
delegation to visit Chechnya at some future date, and
try to seek a political solution to end the conflict.
(Signed)
NEB/WEG/ALW/JP
20-Nov-1999 09:25 AM EDT (20-Nov-1999 1425 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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