Chechen Rebels 'Shot Down Helicopter'

[bemildred]

Chechen rebels have claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian
military helicopter.

Two crew members were killed yesterday when the Mi-24 helicopter went
down near the village of Alkhan-Kala, south-west of the Chechen capital,
Grozny. The helicopter had flown out of the Russian military headquarters in
Khankala, outside Grozny, on a reconnaissance mission, the Interfax news
agency reported.

Rebel leader Madzhilsul Shura claimed on a website that fighters had shot
down the helicopter using a Russian-made, shoulder-fired Igla (Needle) missile.

The statement also said Chechen rebels had downed another Russian military
helicopter last week in the republic of Ingushetia. Russian officials had publicly
blamed that crash on bad weather or pilot error, but an official in the
Kremlin-backed administration in Chechnya said that the helicopter had been
hit by ground fire.

Scotsman

[Aidoneus]

1. 2nd in just a few days

heh--Rebel leader Madzhilsul Shura..

That's not a rebel leader, that's the name of a ChRI Domestic Subcommittee. Reports of combats such as this are released from the Chechen side through the Information Center of the ChRI State Defense Council-"Majlis al-Shura". ...they're really big on formal bureacuracy in these things.

The Russian side is disputing that the Igla was used, saying it was just a plain RPG7. I don't know why they'd care, except perhaps to try and play down the sophistication of the Chechens' weaponry. I don't doubt that they have those, and they probably bought it direct from the Russian army.

There's been a few other battles lately, just from the last few days:--11 Russian troops died in Daghestan, some claims of accident others say they were fired on and then driven off a cliff in the confusion; the Russian military commissariat for Shatoi region was fired on and injured; in Jokharkala/Grozny Thursday, a military convoy was first hit with a bomb implanted in the road, then fired on with RPGs & AK47s; that same day apparently a similar battle was fought in Nozhai Yurt up in the hills near the Daghestan border (reportedly 10-13 were killed and 10 wounded between the 2 Thursday battles); up in the hills to the west of there, a bomb exploded under a passing military vehicle near Vedeno; a so-called "cleansing operation" was attempted in the western plains village of Samashki, and fighting broke out in resisting it (2 Chechens died in fighting, with at least a half-dozen kidnapped and taken away later); and Serzen Yurt at the base of the hills SE of Grozny was fired on by the Russian side, mortars apparently (there was another such event a few days ago, in either Shali or Argun, I forget which..some houses were struck and an old woman was badly injured).

That's just from the last few days. Years after the military phase of the war 'ended', pitched battles are still fought across the entire length of the occupied country and in neighboring areas. I had trouble making out some of the details for the above events, but this gives the general idea at least.

It all sounds a bit like the news out of Iraq.. that's what there is to look forward to, I suppose.

[Aidoneus]

2. a couple other pieces..

The scenes at Beslan weren`t so unfamiliar
Young Wolves on the Prowl

[Aidoneus]

3. other recent activity

again, events take place across the whole length of the occupied country within the last couple days.. a summary from what I have gathered from a variety of sources:

OMON Military-Police building in Zandak, located up above Nozhai-Yurt in the southeastern foothills right near the Daghestan border, is fired on by RPGs, with 3 reported killed;
even further up the Aksai River in Dargo to the SW of there, Russian Interior Ministry forces were shelled and officers were reported wounded;
in the far western middle plains region (the town was reported as Severovodsk, the closest to that I know of is a 'Sernovodsk', which is west on the railroad from Samashki near the Ingush border), reportedly 2 men from Basayev's unit were killed in an exchange of fire they started (didn't work out as they intended, I guess);
a few days ago, a roadside bomb was exploded under a military patrol near ex-Kadyrov's village of Tsenteroi (it happened in the same burst as the last update I gave, but I didn't understand that passage the first time I read it), with 1+1 reported killed/injured among the occupyers;
in the lower Argun gorge, region Itum-Kali, an occupation convoy was first hit with mines planted under the road to Shatoi, then attacked with RPG+AK fire by a mobile unit of Chechen Armed Forces, with around 10(?--maybe 13 total?, can't make it out) reported wounded or killed and at least 1 Chechen fighter killed in the fighting. Russian air force then bombed the whole area later that night.

To the west, things are really looking bad between the Ingushes & Ossets again. State-media agents have been busy whipping up hysteria as a response to the Beslan events, and the early trappings of racist pogroms as in '92 are being found. Ingush patients of hospitals are being refused assistance so they must have their families transport them across to Nazran, Ingushes on the streets are being harassed, threats graffiti`d across village walls, etc..

It would seem that rather than to do with Chechnya, the Beslan event had a lot more to do with Ingush-Ossetian/Russian relations than anything. Those identified so far predominantly have records dealing with Ingush internal affairs, or having been affected by the Prigorodny war. One man had ties to a so-called "Wahhabi" (bullshit phrase, but whatever) group in the far western N.Cauc. republic of Adygea (who suffered the worst of all the genocide operations in the NorthCaucasus, even worse than Chechens though not recently--there's not enough Adygea left for that). I noticed at least 3 distinctly Russian-Slavic names among the ID'd. The only Chechen id'd being the Nurpashi Kurlyav who was so kindly reading Putin's script on TV early on, and there are other bizarre circumstances surrounding his involvement, for example his brother that has been in FSB possession for 3yrs before suddenly being found dead at the scene in Beslan and him being conveniently trotted out after.

Georgia is apparently the pound of "Iraq"-style flesh Putin wants to grab for the response, if there is to be anything besides the other pseudo-dictatorial powers grabbed for & by the government. Their comperable "no-fly zones" of Abkhazia & South Ossetia, their Kurds & Shia, would probably be used as the staging ground for 'liberating' Cheney's BTC pipedream. That's what Georgians seem to fear. On the side, after October 1st, Georgian airplanes will not be allowed to land inside Russia, supposedly because their dues haven't been paid. Chatter about the Martyr Gelayev's past in Georgia (freedom of movement, Kodori, etc) and "al-Qa`idah" in Pankisi is being ramped back up on cue. Talk about the 'piece-keepers' and Soviet nostalgia in Abkhazia & S.Ossetia from the other direction becoming a bit more edgy.

Peace is obviously breaking out all of the world.

[bemildred]

4. Chaos looms ...

I'm not sure what Putin is up to. It does seem he is
tired of the games the Shrubites have been playing with
him. WRT the various things going on in the Caucasus,
it's hard to think of anything he has not already tried.

Georgia borders on being a "failed state" in the best of
circumstances, most of the country ignores Tibilsi most
of the time, even those parts that do not claim to be
autonomous.

It is noticeable that the recent apparent quiet has come
to an end, time for the Fall offensive I suppose.