21:75 hrs HBT 20-10-99
As Russian forces continued their offensive on the outskirts of Grozny,
a
series of explosions ripped through the center of the Chechen capital
on
Thursday, killing scores of shoppers and bystanders at an open-air
market,
Chechen officials said.
Local officials gave conflicting accounts of the death toll. One
spokesman
said at least 60 people were killed; a senior government official
put the
number at 118 dead -- and as many as 400 injured.
The city's central market was strewn with shattered bodies and pools
of
blood after six explosions shook the stalls, which were crowded
with
shoppers. At least four others rocked other parts of the city, including
one
that hit a maternity home.
Burundi The military on Thursday evicted 8,000 displaced people from
two
camps near Bujumbura after Hutu rebels killed two soldiers in a
nearby army
outpost overnight, a military source said.
The army told the inhabitants of the Johnson's and Legentil camps
to go home
Thursday, saying the evictions were necessary for security reasons,
said the
military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Two weeks ago, the army sent 5,000 people from Johnson's camp to
their homes
in Bujumbura rural, where rebel attacks and clashes with the Tutsi-dominated
army have escalated since the start of the year.
More than 20 people have been killed in clashes between soldiers
and the
rebels in and around the capital this week.
Irish police firing stun grenades have burst into an underground
firing
range north of Dublin, which was being used for terrorist training.
The raid was carried out by specialist units of the Irish police
using first
a stun grenade, they then stormed the bunker which they suspect
was being
used by republican dissidents for training in terrorism.
The old wine cellar was also a makeshift shooting range. The Irish
police claimed a heavy calibre machine gun, an assault rifle, handgun
and
ammunition.
The find appears to confirm security force warnings from both sides
of the
border that a breakaway IRA unit is planning an immediate return
to
violence.
A strong earthquake struck southern Taiwan on Friday, toppling several
buidings, setting off fires, and sending a reported 200 people to
hospitals.
The Central Weather Bureau said Friday's quake was unrelated to
the massive
7.6-magnitude tremor that struck central Taiwan on September 21
and killed
more than 2,300 people.
Thank You
Tia