Despite some progress, Chechnya and it's immediate neighbors continue to be a thorn in the side of Russian security services. Russian positions came under fire a total of 19 times over the past 24 hours, causing five dead and four wounded.

The Interior Ministry noted that 561 "terrorism cases" were registered across all of Russia in 2003 (55.8 percent more than in 2002) and of these, more than 400 took place in Russia's southern region, including 386 in the Chechen Republic. 

Recently, about 20 people were arrested in connection with suicide bombings carried out in Moscow and the North Caucasus. There was an attack on a Mozdok military hospital that killed 50 people, at a Mozdok bus stop that killed 16 and at a Moscow rock concert that killed 15. All tolled, 86 terrorist acts were solved in 2003. - Adam Geibel