RUSSIA: A top Kremlin-appointed official in Chechnya has admitted 16 people were killed last week when a bomb destroyed their mini-bus. Moscow had kept the attack secret until rebels posted pictures of the carnage on their website.
"Yes, there was an explosion on April 15th near Khankala. A bus was destroyed and 16 people are dead," Chechnya's Prime Minister, Mr Anatoly Popov, told Russia's NTV television. "These people were not soldiers, but civilians, construction workers, most of whom were women returning home from work."
He did not explain why it took officials almost a week to acknowledge the bombing, and his version of events contradicts rebel claims to have killed 17 soldiers and policemen.
The separatist guerrillas, who are fighting their second war with Moscow since 1994, posted footage on their website (www.kavkazcenter.com) which shows a white minibus being torn apart by an explosion. One man staggers from the wreckage, and a second blast and gunfire erupts about 90 seconds later as rescuers gather round. A statement accompanying the video footage says that 15 "occupiers and traitors" were killed in the first blast, and two in the second.
The attack came less than a fortnight after a bomb ripped apart a bus in the Chechen capital Grozny, killing eight people returning from work on a Russian army base.
Rebels have stepped up attacks after a controversial referendum in the republic last month. Mr Popov was one of the most vocal proponents of the vote, which Moscow said gave overwhelming support to a new constitution for Chechnya, cementing its future within the Russian Federation.
President Vladimir Putin says the poll paved the way for peace in the republic, an amnesty for rebels and compensation for the many whose homes have been destroyed by Russian bombing.
Rebel leaders said the referendum was a farce, and many rights groups refused to send monitors to the vote because of security concerns.
