- The Guardian,
- Wednesday January 12 2000
In the wake of a series of devastating Chechen rebel counter-attacks, the Russian military promised to adopt "tougher tactics" towards the local population. The military said Chechen males aged between 10 and and 60 would now automatically be treated as rebels and detained for "thorough" checks.
Human rights organisations denounced the policy as "absolutely unacceptable".
Federal forces said they had retaken the strategic town of Shali, 12 miles south-east of the capital Grozny, following a fierce battle against rebels who had forced their way back in after a lightning raid through Russian lines on Sunday.
Witnesses said the struggle was exceptionally bitter; the Russian news agency Interfax claimed that as many as 250 residents - mostly civilians - had died in two days' fighting, while much of the town was destroyed.
"Downtown Shali is practically destroyed. Not a single building has been left undamaged. Some buildings have had their roofs torn off, others have had their windows and doors smashed, and administrative buildings have been burned down," an eyewitness told the agency.
There were heavy losses on the Russian side, too. Admitting the worst losses of the campaign so far, the interior ministry said rebels killed 26 Russian soldiers during their offensive on Sunday and Monday. Up to 15 more were thought to have died in fighting yesterday.
Soldiers in Chechnya claim the casualties are much higher than reported.
Russian artillery yesterday heavily shelled both Shali and Argun - which was also partly retaken by the rebels at the weekend. Further cleansing operations in a search for weapon stashes and rebel bases were under way by Russian soldiers last night, after criticism that the original searches had not been thorough enough, allowing Chechen fighters to hit back.
But repeated claims by the Russian high command that "everything is now under control" are for the first time being greeted with widespread scepticism in Moscow. Even newspapers that support the acting president, Vladimir Putin, were yesterday fiercely critical of the army's failure even to prepare for possible Chechen counter-attacks.
An editorial in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta said that "for the first time, this new war recalls the events of 1994-96", a bleak reference to the first Chechen war, which ended in a humiliating defeat for Russia. The fighters' skill at orchestrating sudden, damaging raids into Russian terroritory helped secure their victory then.
Embarrassed by the series of Chechen counter-attacks, the commander of Russian forces in Chechnya, Colonel General Viktor Kazantsev, acknowledged that "mistakes" had been made when federal troops took control of the areas before Christmas.
Asked to clarify what he meant by mistakes, he said: "They include our tender-heartedness and frequently absolutely groundless trust" when checking the area for militants.
The army has frequently claimed it is unable to distinguish between Chechen fighters and civilians or refugees, hence the decision to classify all males between 10 and 60 as rebels.
Peter Bouckaert, a representative for Human Rights Watch in the region, said the ploy was not only unacceptable but counter-productive. "One of the main reasons why many young men have not left areas of combat is that they are afraid to go through the checkpoints. This will only reinforce that fear," he said.
But the Chechen rebels yesterday professed defiance, promising fresh assaults on Russian positions. "This is just the beginning of a series of actions intended to free the areas occupied by the Russians," the rebel chief of staff, Mumadi Saidayev, said.
