Removing landmines around Vedeno forbiddenRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus - Russian soldiers located in the district centre of Vedeno, southeastern Chechnya, forbade removing landmines in the area and almost accused the local inhabitants who tried to remove them of supporting Chechen fighters.
Green-coloured booby-traps, resembling tree leaves, are thrown out of Russian aircraft to restrict the movement of Chechen guerillas in forest areas. A number of mines can be found outside the villages Vedeno, Dyshne-Vedeno, Kharatchoi as well as in forest areas on the border with the Nozhay-Yurt district. In recent days, Vedeno villagers intended to clean the landmines from their fields and pastures, but were stopped by Russian soldiers. The locals complain their homes often become a target of explosions of artillery shelling from the eastern direction where Russian forces are located. On Sunday, October 14, a grenade exploded in the Isayev house in Dyshne-Vedeno seriously wounding two people, one of whom, Ali Isayev, father of the family, had to be quickly transported to the district hospital in Shali. A missile attack from a helicopter Mi-8 broke windows, damaged roofs on dozens of houses and killed several head of cattle.
There is no gas in Vedeno. Electricity has not been functioning for two months and humanitarian aid only arrives once every three months to this distant mountainous area. Almost none of the locals have a permanent job, so people live chiefly on the crops from their small gardens. |
