Nalchik, Russia
Shamil Basayev, the notorious Chechen warlord, acknowledged that he ordered the storming of a southern Russian town last week. The fierce battle that ensued in Nalchik left 137 militants and officials dead. Basayev said a local Islamic militant cell, not ethnic Chechens, carried out the assault—a sign that the fighting in the Caucasus has changed its focus. It’s no longer aimed at independence for Chechnya, but rather at the formation of an Islamic republic that would encompass several Russian provinces, including Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. Russian officials confirmed that the dead militants in Nalchik were locals, not Chechens.
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