GROZNY -- Rebel fighters pulled out in large numbers from Chechnya's second-largest town on Thursday, their commander said, a week after they had moved in, sparking heavy fighting with Russian troops.
Aslan Maskhadov, overall commander of the Chechen separatist rebels fighting Russian forces, said he had issued an order for them to withdraw from Gudermes "to avoid further victims among the two sides and among peaceful civilians."
Gudermes Mayor Ramzan Vatsayev earlier told journalists in Grozny that about 100 civilians had been killed in the fighting in the city. He said bodies were strewn across the streets there, but they could not be collected because of the intensity of the shelling by Russian forces.
"The Russian troops are using long-range weapons. There are bodies lying in the town center. They can not be buried because of continued shelling," Vatsayev told journalists on Thursday after reaching Grozny.
He said that in Wednesday's fighting Russian troops had fired from helicopters on rebels and civilians.
Vatsayev accused Russian soldiers in Gudermes of tossing grenades into cellars where civilians were sheltered. But he also said the rebels loyal to separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev should not have provoked the Russians by seizing key points in the town.
Rebel forces entered Gudermes, 30 kilometers east of the capital Grozny, a week ago as voting began in the territory for both Russia's parliamentary election and for a new local leadership.
Later on Thursday a Reuters correspondent saw a contingent of several hundred Chechen fighters leaving the town. Military sources said Russian troops had retaken their command post, where about 150 soldiers had been pinned down by rebels since last week.
But while government forces pressed their offensives in Gudermes, insurgents were seizing another town.
About 300 rebels entered the town of Achkhoi-Martan, which is 25 kilometers southwest of Grozny, demanding the ouster of a team of local officials installed by the Russians, Interfax and Itar-Tass reported.
The reports said the rebels were in control of the main square. Armed supporters of the local officials, meanwhile, were gathered not far away at the police station.
Itar-Tass said the rebels entered Achkhoi-Martan after Russian soldiers left their outposts near the town unmanned. Interfax said Russian troops were heading back to Achkhoy-Martan.
The bloody fighting for control of Gudermes dealt a blow to the prestige of the Russian government, still licking its wounds after the runaway success of the opposition communists in the election. ()
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