Russia: number of diehard rebels in Chechnya put at 400 ITAR-TASS
Groznyy, 21 May: Some 400 rebel fanatics who will rather die than surrender to federal forces operate in Chechnya at present, officials from the department of the Federal Security Service [FSB] for Chechnya told ITAR-TASS today, as the parliament was preparing to debate the presidential amnesty bills for the republic.
Another several hundred local residents take part in rebel attacks sporadically, and only for the sake of remuneration. They prefer to engage in more profitable and less risky illegal oil production business instead.
This category of criminals is very likely to use the opportunities offered by the amnesty, FSB officials said.
Some 70 militants have ceased resistance in Chechnya since the beginning of 2003, including those who committed serious offences.