Online NewsHour: War in the Caucasus -- September 29, 1999



	RUSSIA'S QUAGMIRE

September 29, 1999

An Islamic insurgency from Chechnya is threatening Russia's control of Dagestan. After this background report, a panel discusses the latest unrest in the Caucasus.

Sept. 29, 1999:
A discussion of the unrest in the Caucasus.

Aug. 12, 1999:
A new revolt begins in Dagistan.

Aug. 9, 1999:
Russian president Boris Yeltsin fires his prime minister.

May 12, 1999:
President Yeltsin explains his decision to fire his government.

Feb. 15, 1999:
A report on Boris Yeltsin and the future of Russia.

Sept. 2, 1998:
Russian political and economic crisis management.

Dec. 26, 1997:
A look at the shattered Russian health care system.

July 22, 1997:
A discussion with Moscow correspondent David Hoffman.

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MARGARET WARNER: The fighting in Chechnya. We start with this background report by Spencer Michels.

SPENCER MICHELS: For seven straight days now, Russian warplanes have pounded Chechnya, scenes reminiscent of Russia's intervention five years ago in that disputed mountainous region of the Caucasus. The Chechen government says the attacks have killed more than 300 people and wounded 1,000 or more. At least one oil refinery has been taken out, and scores of homes have been destroyed. The Russian army says it's targeting Islamic rebels based in Chechnya, rebels they blame for the latest outbreak of fighting in the next door Republic of Dagestan, and for a series of deadly apartment blasts in Russia.

IGOR SERGEYEV, Defense Minister, Russia: (Translated) Our aim is to destroy the bandits. We will continue our strikes to kill this plague once and for all.

SPENCER MICHELS: The attacks have sparked a mass exodus of Chechen refugees. In some border areas, the lines of humanity stretch ten miles long. Refugees are entering several adjacent republics of the Russian federation, including Ingushetia, where leaders call the situation there a humanitarian crisis.

PRESIDENT RUSLAN AUSHEV, Republic of Ingushetia: (Translated) The situation is alarming. I consider there are even elements of catastrophe. According to our figures, there are 61,000 refugees. If things continue like this, we'll have 200,000 refugees.

An attempt to stomp out an Islamic insurgency

SPENCER MICHELS: Two key Muslim leaders targeted by the Russians are Shamil Basayev, a Chechen military commander, and a Jordanian man known simply as Khattab, who fought against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980's.

The two men participated in the 20-month Chechen war against Russia, which claimed some 30,000 lives, by conservative estimates. The conflict ended in 1996 with a Russian withdrawal and a peace deal providing Chechens with de facto autonomy.

Basayev and Khattab also helped lead last month's invasion into the nearby Russian Republic of Dagestan, where they reportedly seek to establish an Islamic state. The guerrillas were eventually driven back to Chechnya by Russian troops. Today, more than 10,000 Russian troops are stationed on the Russian-Chechen border, to make sure Chechen guerrillas don't enter Russia. A few thousand Chechen troops are manning their side of the border as well. In addition, Russian leaders accuse the Chechen fighters of being behind four deadly building explosions that killed more than 290 civilians earlier this month. All the blasts occurred in apartments in the early-morning with residents were in bed.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Prime Minister, Russia: (Translated) It's an attempt by international terrorists to frighten the people, stir up panic, paralyze the political leadership of the country.

SPENCER MICHELS: The most recent blast occurred 13 days ago in the city of Volgodonsk, 500 miles South of Moscow. An apartment building explosion killed 17. Three days before that, in Moscow, a blast went off in an eight-story apartment block; 118 people died. On the 9th, a similar explosion rocked a building four miles away, killing 93. And on the 4th, in Dagestan, 64 died when a car bomb went off at a Russian Army residential building.

In the last three weeks, police in Moscow have been on a heightened state of alert. They've combed crowded areas around town, checked identity papers, and confiscated more than 500 tons of explosives. So far, they've detained 30 suspects in connection with the bombings. In addition, some 15,000 non-native Muscovites have been denied permission to keep living there and told to return to their hometowns. Many Chechens in Russia are crying discrimination, saying they've been targeted because of their dark skin.