Rebel numbers higher than official

Many more people fight against Russia in Chechnya than officials say, Colonel General Anatoly Shkirko, former commander of the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry's interior troops, told Caucasian Knot's correspondent earlier today.

"Who counted them? All these figures are just expert estimates depending on the competence of the expert and political situation," said Mr Shkirko. "A parliamentary election is coming soon, so it is necessary to show that there are no more than 700 rebels left."

Colonel-General Arkady Yedelev, Russia's Deputy Internal Affairs Minister, had previously told Shchit i Mech ("Shield and Sword"), the ministry's official organ, that more than 70 gangs numbering around 700 plus 100 foreign mercenaries acted under the direction of Basayev, Umarov, and Saidulayev in Chechnya at the moment.

For several years, representatives of law enforcement and security agencies have been maintaining that around 1,000 active members of the armed resistance operate in Chechnya. At the same time rebels are regularly reported to be destroyed in mountainous and flat districts in the republic. Officials admit though that new members are recruited, mostly from among Chechnya's young men.

Mr Shkirko thinks, "The local population helps bandits because it is afraid for its life because the gangsters are really dangerous." However, he believes that the main factor that urges local residents to help rebels is Russia's policy in the republic in the last few years. "We have so many times betrayed Chechnya residents that are loyal to Russia — episodes of suspended military action in the first war, Khasavyurt, and so on and so forth, that they are afraid that another peace-maker may come and Russia will leave again, leaving them face to face with gangsters," says Mr Shkirko. "We must first prove that not only an interior troops brigade and a Defence Ministry division represent Russia in the republic, but that we are there to stay. The population will then gradually get rid of its fear of betrayal and they will cease to help rebels."