MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen Interior Ministry groups and units of the Chechen presidential security service resumed their operations near the village of Alleroi and Meskety in the early hours of Wednesday to search for guerrilla leaders, the republic's First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov told Interfax by telephone.
"Officers of the traffic police service's regiment, special operations police units and the republican president's security service staged an ambush in a forest last night and continued to comb the area in the morning," said Kadyrov, who is overseeing the operation.
No new clashes were reported during the night and in the morning, he said.
Speaking about the operation's timeframe, he said that "this depends on its results, and it (the operation - Interfax) has no timeframe. We still believe that Aslan Maskhadov may be hiding in this area, and we have every reason to draw these conclusions."
"The operation will finish after he (Maskhadov - Interfax) is detained and Akhmed Avdorkhanov's guerrilla group is eliminated. Avdorkhanov is chief of Maskhadov's security service," Kadyrov said. Over 20 militants were killed, injured or taken captive, he said.
Two participants in the operation, including senior traffic police officer Ramzan Yusupov, were killed, and about 20 people were injured, Kadyrov said.
On Tuesday evening, Kadyrov asked the population to report to police about attempts by guerrillas to hide or receive medical aid.