1,500 militants grouped in some 80 bandit rings are currently operational in the Chechen Republic, a source at the headquarters of the federal forces in the region told Tass on Friday with reference to a report prepared by headquarters chief Rear Admiral Yury Maltsev in Khankala.
The "bandit rings" are a Russian term (and a fairly apt one given how much these guys are said to be involved in the drug and kidnapping trade) used to describe the Chechen jamaats that each operate under a local commander but ultimately answer to Basayev.
The groups are mainly manned by residents of western Chechnya who posed as forced migrants to gain the legal status in the republic and âforeign mercenaries from far and near abroad who keep playing the key role in the separatist forces,â Maltsev was quoted as saying in his report. In 2003, the federal troops killed 335 extremists and detained 75 criminals listed on the federal and local âmost wantedâ registers, according to the source. During the same period of time, the military confiscated more than 3,000 pieces of small arms, about a million rounds of ammunition and 4.5 tons of explosives. The headquarters official also said police forces in Chechnya had detained nearly 1,500 individuals on suspicion of maintaining links to militants. |