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[Third Issue of the Day]
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Russian Army Claims Final Victory in Chechnya
MOSCOW, Jan 10, 2002 -- (dpa) The Russian army claimed Thursday it has crushed the last units of Islamic rebels in Chechnya after more than two years of fighting.
Only insignificant pockets of militants now remain in the North Caucasus republic after the mopping-up operations launched late last year, army chief of staff Anatoly Kvashnin said in Moscow.
He ruled out further attempts to negotiate with these rebels after the failure of talks at the end of last year.
"There will be no more mistakes. Our position is clear, no more concessions to bandits," Interfax news agency quoted Kvashnin as saying.
The military said it killed more than 100 rebels in special operations since the end of December.
But the Russian human rights organization Memorial has accused federal soldiers of killing several dozen civilians in the process.
Moscow's second campaign to crush resistance in Chechnya began in autumn 1999. Official casualties list more than 3000 soldiers and policemen killed, although the numbers are thought to be understated.
The military leadership said recently that around 2,000 militants remain at large in the republic.
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