Chechen rebels launch counter attacks

Fierce fighting is continuing around the Chechen capital, Grozny, between Chechen military and Russian forces trying to take the city. It is reported Chechen rebels have broken through Russian lines in two major towns in Chechnya and are locked in battle with troops. Some 300 fighters are said to have surrounded the military command headquarters and the railway station in Argun, nine miles east of the capital Grozny. A further 100 rebels are reported to have retaken the town of Shali, further south, from Russian troops. Earlier it was reported Chechen forces had launched a hit-and-run raid on the town.

Russian artillery and aircraft continued to attack Grozny and surrounding areas, despite the announcement yesterday of a suspension of the bombardment of the city, to give civilians a chance to escape. The acting Russian president Vladamir Putin announced a suspension of attacks yesterday partly because of celebrations of Christmas by Orthodox Christians as well as the feast marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Russian soldiers in Chechnya say they are suffering high casualties in their attempts to take the capital, Grozny. In unprecedented interviews with the Russian media, Russian soldiers have claimed that the military is understating casualties in Chechnya; hushing up the deaths of scores of men to avoid a public backlash. Russian soldiers in Chechnya and the adjoining region of Ingushetia claimed their units had suffered numerous casualties that have not been reported and spoke of spoke of truck loads of dead and injured troops coming back across the border. It was not possible to obtain overall figures, but soldiers in some units said more than half the men in their detachments had been killed or wounded in recent weeks.