DATE=11/25/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-256538
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A human rights group is charging Russia with
bombing a Chechen village used as a safe haven by
civilians fleeing the current military offensive. V-
O-A's Peter Heinlein in Moscow reports Russian troops
are being slowed by bad weather and stiffening rebel
defenses as they advance toward the Chechen capital,
Grozny.
TEXT: The U-S based group Human Rights Watch says
refugees reaching the Chechen border are telling of
air strikes on a village where thousands of civilians
had taken shelter to escape Russian attacks in other
areas.
Human Rights Watch Moscow spokesman Malcolm Hawkes
says warplanes first bombed the village of Goyty, just
south of the Chechen capital, Grozny last Sunday. He
says that then, when frightened people started to flee
in panic, they were met with artillery fire.
/// HAWKES ACT ONE ///
It is a cause for extreme concern because the
rumors had spread amongst the Chechen
population, Goyty was what we've called a safe
haven. It was a town that had not been
targeted by Russian forces.
/// END ACT ///
More than 200-thousand Chechens have already fled to
the neighboring Ingushetia region, where they face
rapidly deteriorating conditions as cold weather sets
in.
/// OPT /// There are no firm figures on how
many more civilians are hiding in what they hope are
safe-haven villages inside Chechnya. But Malcolm
Hawkes of Human Rights Watch says there are
indications more than half the republic's population
is displaced.
/// OPT // HAWKES ACT TWO ///
According to one school teacher that we
interviewed that fled from the region, he
maintained that the town of Goyty had a
population of around 15 (thousand) to 20-
thousand, that has risen to over 100-thousand.
It's impossible to check that, but I think it's
indicative that in Chechnya, as people have fled
the bombardment, that these little pockets have
become very highly concentrated areas of
population.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
Rain and fog were reported limiting Russia's air
strike capability Thursday. The state-run ITAR-Tass
news agency quoted the army's western commander as
saying troops were using the opportunity to regroup.
The Associated Press quoted a young Chechen man in
Grozny as saying he was using the heavy clouds as a
cover to take food to his family in the town of Urus-
Martan, 20 kilometers to the southwest.
Urus-Martan has been the main target of Russian air
and artillery attacks during the past week, as federal
troops steadily move to encircle the capital. The
town lies near the main route south from Grozny to the
border with neighboring Georgia.
With approaches from the east, west, and north already
sealed, Urus-Martan would be a significant prize for
the federal forces. But several thousand Chechen
defenders are believed to be in the city, and Russian
army commanders have so far ruled out a ground assault
for fear of suffering heavy casualties. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/KL
25-Nov-1999 11:16 AM EDT (25-Nov-1999 1616 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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