Russia pursues new assault in Chechnya

Russia has halted a planned scaling down of operations

Russian forces are carrying out large-scale operations against separatists throughout Chechnya, amid fears of more rebel attacks both inside the republic and in Russia as a whole.

The Russian news agency Itar-TASS reported that 25 rebels had been killed over 24-hours.

Ivanov said Moscow was "nipping the threat in the bud"

Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov announced the operations on Sunday, as nine Russian servicemen died on board a military helicopter that crashed in the republic.

The helicopter was the second to be lost in less than a week - another Mi-8 was shot down on Tuesday with the loss of four lives.

Meanwhile in the neighbouring Republic of Dagestan, two men were arrested over the bombing of a military parade in the town of Kaspiysk in May.

More than a dozen people have already been arrested in connection with the incident, in which 43 people were killed and more than 150 injured.

Response to siege

Mr Ivanov said that previous plans to reduce the Russian military presence in Chechnya had been suspended.

The offensive comes a week after Russian troops stormed a Moscow theatre in which about 800 theatre-goers were taken hostage by Chechen rebels.

Another victim of the siege died over the weekend bringing the total death toll among the hostages to 120. Fifty rebels were also killed in the Russian assault.

Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted Mr Ivanov as saying that the operations launched on Saturday were aimed at "nipping the threat in the bud".

Tough restrictions

There have been few details of the campaign so far, as the Russian authorities have imposed tough restrictions on reporting, and access by Russian and foreign correspondents is under strong Kremlin control.

Correspondents say operations have been going ahead in all areas of the republic where rebel activity has been reported.

Private vehicles have been banned from leaving or entering residential areas of Grozny and the second city Gudermes, amid fears of car bomb attacks.

Interfax news agency quoted Russian military sources as saying that some rebels were trying to cross into Dagestan disguised as refugees.