Police block Gakayev`s gang in highland Chechnya

GROZNY, June 17 (Itar-Tass) - Police blocked a group of gunmen near
the entrance into Vedeno Gorge, Chechen Republic, on Wednesday, the
republic's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, told reporters.
The gunmen were detected in a mountainous wooded area near the village
of Serzhen-Yurt. There is information that it the gang led by Gakayev.
"A joint unit of Shali police, an Interior Ministry's department for
the South Federal District and servicemen of the battalion "South" were
deployed in the area within a short period. Using a loudspeaker, the
police offered the militants to lay down arms and come out of the forest.
The authorities repeated the proposal in a radio message.
"The militants opened fire. At present, police are taking active
measures to neutralize the gunmen. The body of one militant has been
found," Kadyrov said.
He identified him as Artur Dudurkayev, a resident of the village of
Tolstoi-Yurt.
Police believe the militants have sustained more casualties. A search
for their bodies is underway.
The operation codenamed Vozmezdiye (Retribution) began on May 8. Some
15 gunmen were destroyed last week, including Yasir Amarat, a native of an
Arab country.
He has been in Chechnya since 1996 and trained dynamiters, and
masterminded acts of terror and attacks on law-enforcement personnel.
Kadyrov said catching Doku Umarov, the leader of Chechen terrorists,
is a matter of time, but it is a priority task.
According to Kadyrov, police intercepted a flash card which Umarov had
sent to his representative in Ukraine.
"I translated his /Umarov's/ words on the flash card thus: my health's
at the final stage, nobody' helping me, I can do nothing myself, I don't
control anything, there're no communications, and the only thing that is
left to do is to mine myself and blast me," Kadyrov said in an interview
to Russian news service radio.
He underlined that every point in the republic is under control.
"Catching him is a matter of time. We have people working in the
mountains, in forests and in villages. The network of agents, criminal
police and law-enforcement personnel look for them, find and destroy," the
Chechen leader added.