The authorities in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya have begun an operation against criminal gangs believed to be involved in drug-trafficking and kidnappings.

The Chechen security minister Aslanbek Arsayev said the twenty-four-hour operation aimed to stop the activities of drug-traders and to confiscate a large quantity of weapons being carried in public.

He said the security forces might also try to free some of the people being held hostage by gangs seeking ransom.

The hostages include a number of foreign citizens.