500 kg of Explosives Discovered in Chechnya

More than 500 kg of explosives as well as arms and munitions were found in a cache discovered Sunday in the Nozhai-Yurt District in eastern Chechnya. This district borders on Daghestan, another constituent republic of the Russian Federation. According to the data released by the anti-terrorist headquarters in the North Caucasus, the cache belonged to the group led by Rappani Khalilov, a well-known field commander.

Two Chechen fighters guarding the cache were killed; the police confiscated 11 bags with explosive mix similar to that used for the explosion of apartment buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk in the fall of 1999. According to the information received by Chechnya's law-enforcement agencies, the explosives were meant to be used for new terrorist acts.

Other finds include 10 kilos of TNT, a radio-operated explosive device, hand grenades, a Kalashnikov and a foreign-made radio station.