NAZRAN, Russia (Islamweb & Agencies) - Russia's invading troops searched for Resistance commanders in Chechnya's capital on Saturday, three days after a general admitted troops committed large-scale crimes in similar search operations elsewhere in the region. (Read photo caption below).
Interior Ministry police swept one neighborhood in Grozny, the capital, and dispersed groups of people, including crowds gathered at open air markets, said an official in the pro-Moscow civilian administration in the region.
The entire city was officially closed to outside traffic, with vehicles allowed in the city only with special passes issued by the Russian military, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Russian troops are trying to stamp out resistance from nationalists in Chechnya, but suffer casualties every day in Resistance ambushes, sniper attacks and mine blasts. They respond by searching villages and towns for Resistance men in what they call ``cleansing'' or ``mopping-up'' operations. Both Chechens and human rights groups say the troops loot and attack civilians during the sweeps.
On Wednesday, the commander of Russian troops in the region, Gen. Vladimir Moltenskoi, confessed that his soldiers had committed ``large-scale crimes'' and ``lawless acts'' in a recent series of sweeps, seeming to confirm allegations from civilians. He later softened his statements, saying some individual servicemen had committed ``violations.''
An investigation is under way, and prosecutors said last week they have evidence that 10 people were injured by troops. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman for Chechnya said the military would consider abandoning such sweeps.
Tens of thousands of Russian troops invaded Chechnya in 1999 in a bid to restore control over the region in southern Russia, which achieved de facto independence in a 1994-96 war.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Twenty-one-year-old Chechen villager Zelimkhan Muskhanov, who was seized from his house Friday at dawn by soldiers and repeatedly beaten in detention, poses for a photographer in the Chechen village of Voikovo just south of Grozny, Sunday, July 8, 2001. Russia's nationalities minister pledged Sunday that federal troops would be held responsible if they commit crimes in the Chechnya war, while Chechen villagers say they were tortured in Russian detention. (AP Photo )
- Jul 08 5:31 PM ET