FED AVIATION, ARTILLERY HIT 18 TARGETS IN CHECHNYA

KHANKALA, September 20 (AVN) - MI-8 Hip, MI-24 Hind and MI-26 Halo helicopters accomplished over 40 missions in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, a source in the unified federal headquarters told the Military News Agency.

SU-24 Fencer and SU-25 Frogfoot fighters were not used.

MI-8s equipped with infra-red imagers detected 18 targets overnight to Wednesday. Aviation and artillery strikes were inflicted upon them right after the detection. According to preliminary data, a guerrilla base and 10 rebels were eliminated.

An IL-76 Candid transport evacuated 124 servicemen and three tons of technical cargoes from the area of operation to Central Russia. Mi-8s and MI-26s airlifted 63 men and 17 tons of loads in the interests of the unified federal group.