Russian warplanes bombed the breakaway region of Chechnya for the sixth consecutive day yesterday, prompting thousands of civilians to flee to neighbouring North Caucasus provinces.
A defence ministry spokesman said the strikes targeted "precise sites", which Moscow believes are being used by Islamic rebels it blames for incursions and devastating bomb blasts. Chechnya denies harbouring militants.
Interfax news agency said oil and energy installations in the region, which had been out of Russia's control since the ill-fated 1994-96 war, were under fire.
In Moscow, the Interior minister, Mr Vladimir Rushailo, met President Boris Yeltsin to report on an anti-terror operation, saying police were still on high alert in the capital, Russia's second city of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg in the Urals.
"Recently, 16 explosions have been prevented in different towns on the territory of the Russian Federation. More than 520 tonnes of explosives have been uncovered in different towns, actually 521 tonnes," Mr Rushailo said.
"Operation Whirlwind", which began after three Russian cities were rocked by bombs, killing almost 300 people, had led to the arrest of 101 people and police had identified "terrorists" who masterminded bomb attacks in Moscow, Vologodonsk and Dagestan's Buinaksk. "Seventeen warlords in Chechnya have been declared wanted and Interpol has been informed," Itar-Tass quoted him as saying.
Mr Yeltsin, who has asked for 100 per cent guarantees from the military that men and weapons from abroad would not seep through national borders, also met the Defence minister, Mr Igor Sergeyev, and discussed funding for Russia's cash-strapped military.
Mr Sergeyev has said Russia had not ruled out a land invasion of Chechnya, reviving memories of the disastrous military campaign in which tens of thousands of people died.
Warplanes flew 15 sorties overnight, destroying one oil refinery, an oil storage tanker and an electricity sub-station near the capital, Grozny, Interfax quoted officials as saying.
Russian military officials expressed confidence about the progress of the operation in Chechnya despite funding problems and a force mostly made up of young, inexperienced recruits.
Russian officials have repeatedly said they are facing a well-equipped force and have blamed "international terrorists" for helping the rebels, whom Moscow accuses of trying to establish an independent Islamic state.
The air force chief-of-staff, Cmdr Anatoly Kornukov, said mercenaries were reaching Chechnya by crossing through Georgia and Azerbaijan. Interior ministers from the three states and Armenia were to meet to discuss efforts to fight terrorism.
Neighbouring Ingushetia has appealed for United Nations aid to deal with the refugees. One official said the number of people who have fled already exceeded 60,000. Dagestan was also considering ways to look after refugees who had been arrived in their thousands since the attacks, an official from the region's emergency ministry said.