Russian troops kill 49 militants in North Caucasus

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian troops reported killing 49 militants in a massive security sweep that followed angry comments from President Vladimir Putin about raging violence in the troubled North Caucasus, AFP said.

The National Anti-Terror Committee said the operation was conducted across several republics of the volatile Muslim region and resulted in the removal of some of the most "odious" guerrilla commanders and their followers.

The committee said the "large-scale and massive" raids involved both local and federal troops and that 90 militia bases had been destroyed.

However, it gave no details about the time frame for the operation or when it started.

Putin held a meeting on Friday, October 19 on the North Caucasus in which he berated officials for failing to do enough to bring the region under full control after it witnessed two post-Soviet wars for the independence of rebel Chechnya.

The region has since witnessed an Islamist insurgence that has focused most heavily on Chechnya's larger eastern neighbour Dagestan and the tiny, poverty-wrecked republic of Ingushetia.

Russian official are especially concerned about security on the restless frontier as they prepare to stage the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, near the border with ex-Soviet Georgia.