DATE=10/12/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-267811
TITLE=CHECHNYA / BLAST (L)
BYLINE=LARRY JAMES
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: WATCH CN FOR CASUALTY UPDATES ///
INTRO: A jeep filled with explosives has blown up in the Chechen capital, Grozny, and reports say at least five people are dead and 11 others 11 injured. The blast (today/Thursday) comes just a day after the Russian military suggested it might re-establish administrative offices in the war-ravaged city. V-O-A's Larry James reports from Moscow.
TEXT: Eyewitnesses say an enormous blast left bodies scattered on the sidewalk and street in front of a police station, and shattered windows for blocks. The explosion occurred as a group of police officers and government prosecutors were nearing the building.
A government spokesman in Moscow says it appears most of the victims were civilians, although some reports say police and prosecutors were among the dead.
/// OPT /// Witnesses said the final death toll could be much higher. /// END OPT ///
Russian troops were sent to Chechnya just one year ago, in what the Kremlin said would be a quick operation to put down an insurrection by separatist rebels. It has not worked out that way.
There are nearly daily reports of incidents similar to Thursday's bombing. Just a day earlier, five Russian police officers were seriously wounded when their vehicle hit a land mine outside Grozny.
Russian troops are now in control of the province, but separatists have carried out regular hit-and-run attacks and bombings seemingly at will. Between 10 and 20 Russian soldiers are killed there every week.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported Wednesday that military authorities in Chechnya are considering re-establishing an administrative headquarters in Grozny. Two wars in the past four years have devastated the Chechen capital, and Moscow officials have suggested that the city is beyond repair and should be leveled. (Signed)
NEB/LDJ/GE/WTW
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