Russian Fear Chechen Raid on Grozny

Rudnik Dudayev, secretary of Chechnya's Russian-appointed security
council in the Shatoi region, said rebels fighting for provincial independence were responsible for the attack. He was quoted by the Interfax news agency.

The heavy troop truck was flipped over and blown 50 feet from where the mine exploded.

The attack in the south of the country came as the Russian army
strengthened security around the capital, Grozny, to block feared rebel attacks to mark the sixth anniversary of their storming of the city.

Chechnya's second-largest city, Gudermes, 19 miles east of Grozny, was closed except to cars having special military permits.

At least 80 people were picked up by Russian security forces on
suspicion of having rebel links since Monday, said a Chechen civilian official who refused to allow use of his name.

The rebel attack on Grozny on Aug. 6, 1996, caught Russian troops by surprise. It led to the humiliating Russian retreat from the rebel region after the 20-month war which left Chechnya with de-facto independence.

Three years later, Russian troops rolled back into Chechnya after rebel incursions into a neighboring province and apartment bombings blamed on the rebels in which 300 people died.