Major Terrorist Attack Averted in Chechnya

Federal troops have averted a major terrorist attack in Chechnya, said Col. Ilya Shabalkin, the spokesman for headquarters of the federal force in the North Caucasus. He told Interfax on Tuesday that local residents helped to find homemade bombs made of three 122-mm shells, 50 grams of plastid and an electric detonator hidden near a recently built bridge across the Argun river on the federal highway, he said. The bridge facilitates traffic along the entire Trans-Caucasian highway, including Chechnya. “Steps are being taken to establish and detain the persons who intended to blow up the bridge,” Shabalkin said. He said nine land mines were neutralized, while another eleven caches of arms, ammunition and shells and 15 mini refineries for stolen oil were destroyed and some ten pieces of small arms were confiscated in Chechnya in one day. The joint force’s press center told Interfax that Grozny remains the main target for saboteur activities. Up to 30 small rebel groups operate there disguised as civilians, making it difficult to find them, the headquarters said. Full Story