DATE=7/3/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-264007
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: At least 25 people were killed and more than
80 wounded when a truck bomb exploded outside a
Russian military housing complex in eastern Chechnya.
V-O-A Moscow Correspondent Eve Conant reports the
attack was one in a series of truck bomb explosions in
Russian controlled Chechen towns that officials say
have resulted in at least 36 deaths.
TEXT: Most of the casualties of the attacks (Sunday)
were Russian policemen living in dormitory housing in
the town of Argun, just east of the Chechen capital,
Grozny. Eyewitnesses say a truck approached the
building at high speed around eight o'clock in the
evening, crashed through a barrier, and exploded.
Russia's top commander in Chechnya, Gennady Troshev,
called the attackers "kamikazes" who do not want
peace.
/// TROSHEV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER
///
He says the truck was loaded with explosives. And he
adds that the driver was a suicide bomber who hit the
building where employees of the interior ministry were
living.
A highly-trained police unit was housed in the
building. The second floor of dormitory collapsed,
and Russian emergency officials say the victims were
trapped under the rubble.
A Chechen rebel spokesman, Movladi Udugov, said the
Argun explosion was just one of a series of attacks
against Russian targets in Chechnya over a 24-hour
period. He was quoted as saying rebels had gathered a
force of 500 suicide bombers and that the attacks
Sunday were what he called the "first phase" of a
large-scale operation against Russian soldiers.
Rebels say hundreds were killed in the strikes, but
there was no confirmation of casualty figures.
The Kremlin's spokesman on Chechnya, Sergey
Yastrzhembsky, called the bombings "acts of
terrorism."
/// YASTRZHEMBSKY ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE
UNDER ///
He says each of these terrorist acts was committed in
the same style -- with only one or two persons in the
trucks. He says each attack targeted military housing
or headquarters in the main cities of the Chechen
republic.
Russian news agencies said a truck bomb explosion in
Gudermes, the pro-Kremlin administrative capital of
Chechnya, also resulted in several casualties,
including Russian servicemen and civilians.
Earlier Sunday, a truck bomb exploded outside a
Russian military headquarters in Urus-Martan. A
Chechen commander said there were fatalities. Rebels
say the attacks were partly in response to the Russian
military's statements that the war in Chechnya was
nearly over.
/// OPT /// Russian troops are stepping up
security and searching the areas of the blasts for
Chechen rebels. The Associated Press reports that,
following the Argun blast, Russian helicopters in
fired on residential areas of the town, injuring
several civilians. /// END OPT ///
The attacks Sunday resulted in the highest casualty
figures yet in a series of rebel counter-attacks and
ambushes against Russian troops in Chechnya, further
undermining federal commander's claims that their
forces are in control of the breakaway republic.
(Signed)
NEB/EC/JWH
03-Jul-2000 06:39 AM EDT (03-Jul-2000 1039 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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