Russians take `last Muslim bastion'

Makhachkala - Russian forces yesterday entered the last bastion of Muslim insurgency in the southern republic of Dagestan, seizing…

Makhachkala - Russian forces yesterday entered the last bastion of Muslim insurgency in the southern republic of Dagestan, seizing control of the village of Chabanmakhy, the Deputy Interior Minister, Gen Vladimir Kolesnikov said.

Fierce fighting continued in the area surrounding the village, located 80 km south of the regional capital of Makhachkala, Gen Kolesnikov told a news conference.

The village of Chankurbe, which Russian officials cited as another pocket of Islamic resistance to the Russians, no longer posed a military threat, officials said.