The seven-hour attack in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia mocked Kremlin assertions that it has managed to end the Chechen conflict. Fighters only recently dismissed by the Kremlin as "bandits" and "pockets of resistance" engaged in a night-long firefight that left the streets of Ingushetia littered with bodies, wrecked military vehicles and charred automobiles.

Between 200 and 300 fighters simultaneously struck three towns in Ingushetia, attacking police stations, government buildings and checkpoints with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, and laying to waste Russian claims that Moscow has asserted its control over the region.

Unconfirmed reports said that 92 people had been killed -- 67 security personnel, including the region's interior minister, and 25 civilians.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 3, 2004
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