Maj.-Gen. Valery Gerasimov, center, commander of Russia's 58th army, and other officials look at a flag captured from rebels during fighting near the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran, in the Russian republic of Ingushetia near the border with Chechnya, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002. A Russian military helicopter was shot down early Thursday in Galashki, killing two crewmen, the Russian Defense Ministry said. At least 10 Russian servicemen were killed in fierce fighting with rebels.(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
A Russian officer looks at the bodies of Chechen fighters killed in combat near the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran in the Russian republic of Ingushetia near the border with Chechnya, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002.
Russian soldiers ride on an armored personnel carrier after heavy fighting with rebel fighters near the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran
Russian soldiers rest near an armored personnel carrier after heavy fighting with rebel fighters near the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran
Russian soldiers carry a grenade launcher after heavy fighting with rebel fighters near the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran
Local residents look at the debris of a Mi-24 military helicopter shot down during a fighting with rebels in the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran, in the Russian republic of Ingushetia near the border with Chechnya, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002. Two crewmen were killed.
VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia - A Russian general claimed Wednesday that federal troops have eliminated the remnants of a rebel group that crossed the border from Georgia, shot down a helicopter and engaged in intense fighting with Russian forces near Chechnya (news - web sites).
Maj. Gen. Vladimir Chirkin, the chief of staff of the 58th army, said the operation against the rebel group in Ingushetia, a Russian region next to Chechnya, has been completed, according to the Interfax news agency.
"The rebel group is completely destroyed," Chirkin was quoted as saying.
Fighters from a 200-strong rebel group that Russian authorities say crossed into Ingushetia from Georgia on Sept. 26 shot down a helicopter and clashed with Russian troops, killing at least 17 in the first few days of fighting.
Chirkin said a total of 21 soldiers of the 58th army were killed and 25 wounded fighting the group, and that 70 rebels were killed and eight taken prisoner. There was no way to verify the claim, and Russian officials routinely inflate rebel losses in their reports.
In Chechnya, Russian aviation pounded at suspected rebel bases in the mountainous Vedeno region. The military used artillery in the Vedeno, Itum-Kale and Achkoi-Martan districts, an official in Chechnya's Moscow-backed administration said.
Rebels attacked Russian positions 16 times over the previous 24 hours, killing five servicemen and wounding six, the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, militants clashed with riot police near the settlements of Shalazhi and Vedeno, killing three policemen, the official said.
In Grozny, Chechnya's capital, one policeman died of wounds after his detachment was fired on and another was killed by a land mine, the official said. A third police officer was killed in the town of Sernovodsk.
Meanwhile, the chief of Chechnya's Security Council, Rudnik Dudayev, said that 1,600 of the region's residents have gone missing since Russian troops returned in 1999, according to Interfax.
Human rights advocates blame most of the disappearances on Russian troops, who have been accused of arbitrarily detaining Chechen men and torturing and killing detainees. Civilians say they are forced to hand over large bribes in exchange for the release of a relative or to receive his body for burial.
Dudayev said that despite the Chechen government's efforts to protect civilians' rights, there were still reports of violations by troops in some villages.
Moscow fought a 1994-96 war with Chechen separatists that ended in de facto independence for the region. Russian troops returned in 1999 after rebels raided a neighboring region and after apartment house bombings that killed more than 300 people were blamed on Chechen militants.
