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Dozens die as Islamist militants raid Russian city

Chechen rebels own attack; Putin orders city siege

NALCHIK (RUSSIA): Islamist militants attacked police and government buildings in one of the main cities of Russia's turbulent Caucasus region on Thursday, sparking battles in which dozens of people died, officials said.

President Vladimir Putin responded by ordering a blockade of the city of Nalchik to prevent militants from slipping out and ordered security forces to shoot any armed resisters.

Death toll rising

Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks in Nalchik, capital of Kabardino-Balkariya, a republic near Chechnya. Death tolls ranged from 49 to 63.

Twenty-five rebels were killed, along with 12 police officers and 12 civilians, said Fyodor Shcherbakov, a spokesman for presidential envoy Dmitry Kozak. He said the number was rising as bodies were being discovered.

Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin told Mr. Putin that 50 militants had been killed and that 10 police officers had also died. Local officials said another three civilians were among the dead, and that 84 were wounded.

The Interfax news agency quoted Russia's deputy prosecutor as saying 12 rebels had been detained. Estimates of the number of militants involved were from 60 to 300.

The Chechen rebels' decade-long struggle against Russia, originally a separatist movement, has melded increasingly with Islamist extremism in the past decade and spread far beyond Chechnya's borders to encompass the whole Russian Caucasus region.

If the battles once shaped up between Russian troops and Chechen rebels, the picture has since grown far more complicated. Police and security forces have fought pitched battles with militants across the region, often engaging in urban warfare, and the rebels have employed terrorist methods including suicide bombings and the seizure of more than 1,000 hostages last year in a school in Beslan, about 100 km southeast of Nalchik.

The Kavkaz-Center Web site, seen as a voice for rebels loyal to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, said it had received a short message claiming responsibility for Thursday's attack on behalf of the Caucasus Front. It said the group was part of the Chechen rebel armed forces. — AP

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