CHECHNYA:

Rebel fighters are gone from the Chechen capital of Djohar (Grozny). In December there were around 4,000 insurgent forces in the city, and additional troops entered the city in the first half of January. Up to 3,000 left the city February 1, following a treeless path southeast along the Sunzha River. The route led into a minefield covered by federal firing positions. Russian commanders claim the Chechens were taken in by an intelligence operation, in which a Russian agent demanded and received a $100,000 bribe to indicate the route, supposedly a safe passage. In the carnage of the retreat, four important Chechen field commanders were killed and others, including Shamil Basaev, wounded. The Chechen forces now in the southern mountains number perhaps 6,000-7,000, separated by ravines and with poor communications. Federal commanders say they will cut the number of Russian soldiers in Chechnya from 100,000 to 50,000 and continue to prosecute a vigorous antiguerilla war.