MOSCOW. September 20. (AVN) - Chechen-based Islamic guerrillas can mount a large-scale offensive on neighbouring Dagestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia in southern Russia soon, a member of the State Duma committee for security told the Military News Agency on Monday.
This information was drawn from both Russian and foreign intelligence data, the source said. To ward off a potential threat from Chechnya, as many as 70,000 federal troops are to be deployed around the breakaway region, the core of the force being professionals, according to him.