KHANKALA. Jan 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The federal aviation is involved in operation aimed at elimination of Chechen rebel group leaders, a spokesman for the unified federal headquarters told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
The missions to neutralize the warlords have been assigned to heads of all law-enforcement agencies included in the unified federal troops group, the spokesman said.
Speaking of Air Force actions in the breakaway republic, the spokesman cited an intelligence report obtained in late 2001. The report claimed that warlord Khattab had bought a house in a mountain village in southeastern Chechnya and was visiting it from time to time. Air Force pilots inflicted a missile and bomb strike on the house on December 28 last year. At the moment a session of field commanders was held in the house. Seven of them, who turned out to be Arab mercenaries, were killed, but Khattab was not there.
It is not necessary to use controlled arms to inflict a pinpoint strike on an earlier detected target, the spokesman stressed. It is enough to use S-13 missiles with declination of 5- 10 meters if the pilot is more or less experienced. The Chechnya campaign mostly involves experienced pilots, the spokesman added.
Both reconnaissance planes and army aviation helicopters are involved in collection of scouting data.
The spokesman praised agents of the Federal Security Service, as well as officials of the General Stuff main reconnaissance department and army reconnaissance for efficient actions in the breakaway republic. He said that there were several reasons that did not permit to neutralize the most notorious rebel leaders. One of them is that it is extremely difficult to plant an agent in the entourage of rebel warlords.