Total of Federal losses in Chechnya announced

2,728 killed and 7,971 wounded are total losses of federal troops in Chechnya since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation on October 1, 1999, Colonel General Valeri Manilov, deputy chief of the General Staff told Friday. The figure does not include federal losses suffered during the effort to stamp out rebels invading neighbouring Daghestan in the summer of 1999. At the same time, over 15,000 rebels have been killed during anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya, according General Manilov. He estimated that "the bandit groups which we faced at the beginning of the counter-terrorist operation numbered 26,000.”