Deadly Bomb Attacks in Chechnya

July 3, 2000 -- Dozens of Russian troops and police and some civilians have died in a series of suicide attacks over the past 24 hours carried out by Chechen rebels.

In one attack alone, at least 25 Russians are confirmed dead and 81 injured.

Rebel sources claimed that five suicide truck bomb attacks were carried out, one of which failed. Russian official sources have confirmed all five and have given provisional death and injury tolls for two.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who rode to power in December in the wake of a brutal Russian military campaign to crush the Chechen rebels, was meeting with security advisers and may speak on the issue later.

Worst of the Attacks

The worst incident appears to have been in Argun, six miles east of the Chechen capital Grozny. Russian sources say “at least 25” died and 81 were injured when a truck loaded with explosives crashed through barriers and blew up. That death toll might rise, they warned, as the devastated building was combed for dead or survivors. ITAR-TASS, quoting police sources, spoke of 50 dead.

The Argun target was a hostel housing the Chelyabink unit of OMON police. OMON is a special interior crack police squad, seen in Chechnya as the long arm of the military and ruthless enforcer of Russian rule.

Detention centers run by OMON have been described by Human Rights organizations as brutal prisons where civilians are held without charge or trial and tortured. The rebels are demanding the release of 200 women and 250 children from such centers.

Another Deadly Blast

Another blast tore through the center of Gudermes, Chechnya’s second largest city, where a truck bomb appears to have exploded just short of its target. After initially denying casualties, Russian official sources admitted that three servicemen and eight civilians had been killed.

A third blast was confirmed in Urus-Martan, but no official casualty figures were available.

Chechen rebel leaders claim that a series of attacks took 200 Russian lives and injured a further 700. “This is just the beginning,” rebel leader Movladi Udugov said by phone from his hideaway.

The rebels also claimed a successful attack on Naibyora, another central Chechen town. A fifth attack, on a village, had failed, they said. Russian official sources later confirmed that all five attacks had taken place but would give no details of damage or casualties in the remaining three.

Weeks of Attacks

The bloody night follows weeks of hit-and-run attacks by Chechen rebels in Russian-controlled territory, and a five-day battle in the southeastern region of the breakaway republic that killed at least 13 soldiers.

On Sunday, several dozen Russians were killed when a suicide bomber, also in a truck, smashed through a series of roadblocks in the village of Ursus-Marten, drove up to a school where Russian soldiers were stationed, and detonated.

Russian authorities said there were no casualties. However, Ramzan Akhmadov, a Chechen guerrilla commander, insisted that there were Russian dead. He did not specify a number. He also said his rebels would send explosive-laden trucks to Argun, Kurchaloi and Novogrozny and Gudermes, where the pro-Moscow civilian government of Chechnya has its headquarters.

Rebels say they killed 12 Russian soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy in the same area. In the ensuing two-hour gunfight, 21 Russian soldiers were injured.

Other Attacks

On Saturday, in another suicide bombing, 12 Russian soldiers died and 18 were injured near Avtury.

Three more Russian policemen died last night when their vehicle ran over a mine near Shelkovskaya village. A remote-controlled booby-trap was defused by Russian engineers in Grozny itself.

Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev and others have warned of more lethal attacks on Russian troops and police if 200 women and 250 children they say are being held in detention centers in northern towns were not released.

These latest casualties add to the growing toll resulting from a brutal war of attrition between the Russians and guerrillas in Chechnya’s southern mountain region. The impenetrable forests and dramatic gorges where the rebels are hiding makes for perfect ambush territory.

Bloody History

Chechnya is threatening to turn into an Achilles’ heel for Putin, much as it was for his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin sent in troops last fall, after a series of brutal apartment bombings in Moscow and other parts of Russia that left almost 300 dead.

All the Chechen groups have denied responsibility. Russian troops, which were driven out of Chechnya in a 1994-96 war, returned to devastate Grozny and most other major towns, sending tens of thousands of refugees fleeing, but they appear no closer to taming the guerrilla fighters.

Leading Muslim cleric Akhmad Kadyrov has been appointed by Moscow to lead a pro-Russian administration in Chechnya, but he appears to have little support among the hungry population of a country that seems hell-bent on independence.

Meanwhile, Russian troops on Sunday were carrying out what officials called “special operations” in the towns of Valerik and Urus-Martan, southwest of Grozny, ITAR-Tass reported. It said the towns were sealed off, and that 15 people were arrested for taking part in rebel operations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.