MOSCOW, Feb 21 (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin called Monday for security forces to be "harder" on rebel groups in the Caucasus, Russian media reported.
Putin, shown on state television commenting on a report presented by his interior minister on the "elimination" of a group of rebels in the southern city of Nalchik this weekend, said security forces should "also continue to work this way in the future."
Russian security forces needed to be "harder with them, harder," Putin said.
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev was cut off by Putin when he tried to evoke a "jamaat" -- an Islamist community -- which he said aimed to organized "terrorist acts in Russia."
Putin interrupted him, saying: "You should not use their language. What is a jamaat? Bandits are bandits."
Interfax news agency reported earlier Monday that Russian security forces operating in a southern republic bordering Chechnya had identified the bodies of three men found in a building they attacked to try and flush out suspected Islamic rebels.
Quoting local security forces in Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic, the agency said the three dead were aged between 25 and 35 and all came from the Russian Caucasus region.
02/21/2005 13:41 GMT - AFP