14:32, 8 June 2004

Artillery, aviation bomb vicinity of mountain Chechen village

For the last few days, the Russian air force and artillery have been shelling forest tracts in the vicinity of the village of Kharsenoy in the Shatoy district, Southern Chechnya, a resident of the village told the Caucasian Knot correspondent. "At least three pairs of airplanes are dropping bombs in the vicinity of Kharsenoy daily. The Grad volley fire system is being widely applied too. We don't know why it is happening. Many people, fearing for the life of their children, are moving to the plain," Murad, the 42-year-old resident of Kharsenoy, said. In his opinion, the reason for such active actions of the military in the vicinity of Kharsenoy lies in the fact that notorious Chechen field commander Dokku Umarov is a native of this village and there was a period of time when his groups were based in the area.

The Chechen military commandant's office has refused to give any comments on the matter, saying only that the federal air force and artillery "work exceptionally with targets and rebel mountain bases revealed beforehand."

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent

Source: Caucasian Knot