Maskhadov orders counter-attacks on Gudermes, Argun, Nozhay-YurtRuslan Isayev, special to Prague Watchdog, Northern Caucasus
On Sunday night, 16 Sept, Chechen armed groups raided Gudermes, Argun and Nozhay-Yurt, the district centre in a mountainous south-east part of Chechnya. In addition, sources close to the President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov claim some fighters are in the capital Grozny. Chechen commanders called the ongoing events a large-scale counterattack.. On Monday morning fighters cut off Russian army and troops of the Interior Ministry in Gudermes launching fire against the checkpoints, the town military commandment and an interim district police headquarters. As some sources say it is Gudermes district where Aslan Maskhadov has found shelter. A man committed a suicidal attack in Argun Sunday evening driving a car loaded with an explosive mechanism into the yard of the administration chief Movsar Timirbulatov’s house. While Timirbulatov was not hurt, his bodyguard died. Moreover, the house of Shali district administration head Sharip Alikhadzhiev came under fire the same evening. Monday morning, at about 10 a.m., Chechen rebels stole up to Khankala, Russian military headquarters in Chechnya, shooting down a MI-8 helicopter. All nine people on board, including a senior commander of the general headquarters of Russian armed forces general major Anatoli Pozdnyakov, were killed in the attack.
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