CHECHNYA: RUSSIAN FORCES BOMB CHECHEN VILLAGES

Описание: (6 Sep 1999) Russian/Nat

Russian forces have bombed a cluster of Chechen villages on the border with Dagestan.
Local Chechen sources say 25 people were killed in the attack, and many more wounded.

Russia sent warplanes to bomb guerrilla camps in Chechnya last month claiming that rebel extremists were entering Dagestan from Chechnya, but denied claims it had bombed the villages intentionally.

Chechnya claims Russian forces bombarded the Chechen villages overnight on Sunday, destroying several buildings in the Nozhay-Yurt region, near the border with Dagestan.

In the village of Zamai Yurt 32 houses were razed to the ground and many others were partly destroyed.

According to Chechnya's deputy Prime Minister Kazbek Makhashev 25 people died in the attack including women and children.

But authorities in Chechnya say the number of dead is likely to rise, as many are feared trapped under rubble.

Russia's Defence Ministry denied the bombing, although it warned Russia retained the right to attack military targets to protect Dagestan from insurgents.

Locals pointed out that the buildings hit were civilian buildings such as schools.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"It was a school. Teachers and parents worked hard to prepare it for September 1 and all for nothing.
Q: How many children studied there?
A: 275 children."
SUPER CAPTION: Ahmed Imurkayev, Village chief

Villagers began burying the dead on Monday, according to Muslim tradition.

What was to be a day of celebrating Chechnya's independence declared by Dzhokhar Dudayev eight years ago instead became a day of mourning.

Hours after the bombing, Russian forces say rebels crossed the border from Chechnya and seized several villages in western Dagestan, which they continued to hold Monday.

The rebels are seeking an independent Islamic state in southern Russia and have been operating from bases inside neighbouring Chechnya.

The raids risk spreading the conflict into Chechnya, a lawless territory that has effectively been independent since the end of its 1994-1996 war with Russia.

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