Word: raid
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...fact, the Chechens were just biding their time. Last week guerrillas came out of nowhere to raid three important towns. Creeping into Argun, mixing with local residents, attackers assaulted Russian troops occupying buildings in the town square, killing 10 or 20 before ferocious return fire drove them off. In Shali, hundreds of rebels brazenly encircled the Russian military commandant, demanding he hand over his troops' weapons and clear out. The Chechens blocked a base on the edge of the town, so when Russian armor tried to deploy in support of their comrades at headquarters, they were pinned down...
...such assaults should not have surprised Russia's generals. Any book on the last war would have told them that the rebels would eventually raid occupied towns to show that no part of Chechnya was secure. Any book would also have told them the attackers would head straight for military headquarters to cause maximum humiliation. In the case of Shali, the guerrillas had even announced they were coming back. Before abandoning the town last December, recalls Isa Madayev, chief of administration in a small town next door, the rebels warned they would return if there were any Russian abuses. Early...