November 24, 1999
Web posted at: 12:39 a.m. EST (0539 GMT)

In this story: Refugee count could reach 300,000 'This is genocide of the Chechen people' Rebels pledge to resist through winter RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

GENEVA (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday appealed for $16 million to assist more than 200,000 civilian refugees who have fled the "raging war" in Chechnya, but ruled out sending relief workers to the breakaway Russian republic -- at least for now.

The aid intended for Chechnya -- part of a global U.N. appeal that seeks to raise $2.3 billion for more than a dozen countries -- would buy basic necessities for refugees who have fled Russia's military campaign against Islamic rebels. The relief effort would come from money donated by U.N. members -- in addition to their regular membership dues.

The Chechen refugees, mainly women and children, are staying in squalid camps or in the overcrowded homes of host families in the neighboring republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan.

"Obviously there is raging war, there is military action going on in Chechnya. In the midst of that it would be difficult for us to go in and offer humanitarian assistance," Annan told reporters.

Russia's campaign in Chechnya has been criticized for turning more than 200,000 people into refugees and causing widespread suffering and death among civilians.

The Federal Migration Service has predicted that the number of refugees from Chechnya could rise to 300,000, Interfax said Tuesday.

Moscow maintains it has targeted only Islamic separatists, blamed for apartment bombings that killed 300 in Russia in September. But few of the casualties in besieged hospitals in Chechnya are rebels, according to medical staff. They say most of the injured are civilians.

"If they consider these kind of peaceful citizens as rebels, then it would be better if they just killed the whole population with one attack, so it would be easier to die," one doctor treating Chechen casualties said.

Russian forces have taken control of many Chechen towns without heavy fighting, but not all residents have welcomed them.

"This is genocide of the Chechen people," said Khamza Bashayev, an administrator in the town of Achkhoi-Martan, which the Kremlin's main envoy for Chechnya, Nikolai Koshman, visited on Tuesday.

Russian forces mounted a relentless mortar barrage on a key town south of Grozny on Tuesday as they tried to close a circle around the republic's capital, where exhausted and frightened residents huddled in frigid basements.

The rain of mortar rounds on Urus-Martan, 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Grozny, was aimed at driving rebels out of the town so Russian forces could enter unchallenged. The tactic has worked well in the taking of other towns -- including Gudermes, Chechnya's second-largest city -- but Urus-Martan may be tougher.

Aslan Maskhadov, president of Chechnya, said rebels have pledged to fight in Urus-Martan through the winter. The Interfax news agency reported Tuesday that according to military sources, rebels have beefed up their ranks to 3,500 in Urus-Martan.

Russian aircraft and artillery have concentrated their fire in recent days on the southern approaches to the capital -- the last escape route for militants. Russian forces also moved closer Tuesday to Vedeno, a key town deep in the mountains southeast of Grozny.

Russian aircraft and artillery also struck targets on the outskirts of Grozny and continued pounding the western city of Bamut.

Russian officials have said as many as 6,000 rebels are in Grozny, but on Tuesday the people seen on the streets were mostly old and largely ethnic Russian. Some people are still living in apartment blocks, but much of the population has taken shelter in basements.

Correspondent Matthew Chance, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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