Moscow - Tension gripped Chechnya yesterday as federal troops and separatist rebels marked the anniversary of the entry of Russian ground forces into the breakaway republic on October 1, 1999, news agencies reported.
Russian sappers foiled an assassination attempt against the republic's administrator Mr Akhmad Kadyrov, exploding a remote-controlled bomb planted near the pro-Moscow leader's house in the village of Tsentaroi, east of Grozny, Interfax said.