ARGUN, Russia -- Russian troops clashed Tuesday with hundreds of rebels in a mountainous Chechen village, as federal forces pushed to capture one of the few areas in Chechnya where militants still move freely.
Few details were available about the fighting in Tsentoroi in southeastern Chechnya, but the rebel group there was believed to be one of the last large concentrations of militants remaining in Chechnya.The federal military command said Tuesday that 1,500 rebels were based in the area around Tsentoroi, including hundreds in the village itself. The military has said 3,000 rebels are still fighting in the republic.
"There are no gangs under single command left in western Chechnya, but we are concerned about the east," Col. Gen. Alexander Baranov, chief of staff of the federal forces in Chechnya, said Tuesday.
The federal command said more troops and equipment were moving to the area around Tsentoroi. The jagged terrain in the region suits the rebels' guerrilla tactics and keeps the Russian military's big guns from moving freely.
Because of Tsentoroi's remoteness, the military relied mainly on air raids. Russian jets and helicopters flew 120 sorties Monday, far more than usual, the military headquarters said Tuesday.
The raids also targeted several other settlements in the southern mountains, including Galaity village, located on a road near Chechnya's eastern border with the Russian republic of Dagestan.
Russian commanders said rebels remaining in southern Chechnya were trying to flee to Dagestan as federal forces tightened their grip. The attack on Galaity looked like it was directed at cutting off escape routes.
Still, rebels elsewhere defied Russian claims that they were on the run, attacking federally controlled areas in Chechnya's north. Officers said barely a night has gone by recently without rebel ambushes on Russian posts.
Federal forces were fighting rebels Tuesday near the town of Argun, just east of the capital, Grozny. Among the rattle of light-arms fire, helicopter gunships could be seen firing rockets into a forest where rebels were hiding.
Rebels also attacked a checkpoint in Grozny early today, killing one Russian soldier and wounding another, the Interfax news agency said.
The fighting came after Russian promises to increase security around Sunday's presidential election. Vladimir Putin, whose hawkish stance on Chechnya helped make him widely popular in Russia, won with more than 52 percent of the vote.
Russian forces swept south into Chechnya last September, taking the republic's plains with relative ease. But they have had a tougher time keeping militants from seeping back into the north, and Putin has offered few ideas on how to bring lasting peace to the republic.