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Chechen authorities claim that in the period from 1994 to the present, the country has lost more than 200,000 adults and over 20,000 children. Today, about 50 civilians are lilled monthly
Over 200,000 people have been killed in the Chechen Republic since 1994, the chairman of Chechnyas State Council, Taus Djabrailov, the Interfax news agency reports.
The official added that ov| Ads |  |
er the same period over 20,000 children were killed in Chechnya and dozens of thousands more became orphans.
Djabrailov also told the press that presently there are an average of 50 civilians killed in Chechnya on a monthly basis. "Every year, Chechnya loses from 2-3,000 people who are killed, abducted or go missing," the official said.
Earlier this week, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov said that 148 Russian military servicemen were killed in the North Caucasus in the first 10 months of 2004.
Sergey Ivanov recalled that since the end of the active phase of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, the number of those killed was 499 in 2001, falling to 480 and 291 in 2002 and 2003 respectively.
"These sombre figures show the trend of a fall in numbers. One of the reasons is undoubtedly the fact that fewer conscripts are used for combat tasks, with commanders increasingly relying on trained professionals who have consciously chosen military service as a career," the minister said.
MosNews.com
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