Moscow: Russian forces on October 28 launched a special operation in Chechnya and claimed to have killed 30 separatist fighters, according to military officials quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"Up to 30 rebels have been killed during a special operation near Tsentoroy," a village East of the Chechen capital Grozny, Interfax quoted an official from Russian forces headquarters in Chechnya as saying.

The Russian Air Force has also carried out raids in the region, the official added.

One hundred and fifteen hostages died in Moscow after Russian special forces on October 26 stormed a theatre where a Chechen separatist commando held more than 800 people captive for 57 hours. Another two hostages were shot by their captors before the pre-dawn assault.

Russia on October 28 marked a day of national mourning to honour the memory of the hostages who died in the release operation. Fifty Chechen hostage-takers were also killed.

Russian forces swept into Chechnya on October 1, 1999 to put down a separatist insurgency in what the Kremlin has described as an anti-terrorist operation.

But Moscow has become bogged down in a brutal guerrilla conflict in the mountainous Southern Republic, with both sides suffering daily casualties.

AFP