The Russian Defense Ministry has decided to clear some 5,000 hectares of mines in Chechnya, RIA Novosti cites Chief Military Engineer General-Major Yuri Stavitsky as saying.
Mine-clearing has already started at the villages of Alkhan-Yurt of the Urus-Martanovsky District, Maytrup of the Kurchaloyevsky District and Chiri-Yurt of the Shalinsky District, the general says.
Operations will start at the Groznensky (rural) and Shelkovsky Districts in May, Stavitsky adds.
Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov said that over 4,000 people were killed by mines by October 2011, including 150 children.
