Guerrillas and military clash in Chechnya's Urus-Martanovsky district
By Ruslan Isayev
CHECHNYA - A battle between guerrillas and government forces took place near the village of Goy-Chu (formerly Komsomolskoye) in Chechnya's Urus-Martanovsky district today.
Early one morning a unit of the Chechen “West” battalion, under the command of the Russian Defence Ministry, was on a reconnaissance mission in the forest on the outskirts of the village. The soldiers came upon a group of guerrillas coming out of the forest to replenish their food supplies. A fierce battle broke out that lasted about half an hour.
The locals said that each side only suffered one wounded man. The guerrillas managed to hide in the forest and the soldiers did not pursue them. However, a mop-up operation immediately was begun in several of the houses, although no one has been arrested.
The situation in the Urus-Martanovsky district, which lies around the border between the Chechen lowlands and mountains, has remained tense since spring. Almost every day members of the district's military command post, with the support of local police, set up mobile check-points. They stop all vehicles and record the names of all drivers and passengers. But these measures are virtually useless as locals resort to taking the many detours that exist in each village.(T/E)
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