MOSCOW, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A human rights group said Friday that 128 people from Chechnya were abducted in 2004 and are still missing, Interfax reported.
Known as Memorial, the group also said 241 Chechen residents have been killed in the republic this year.
"Our report suggests that 294 local residents were abducted in Chechnya between January and late October 2004. Of them, 146 have been freed, 20 have been found dead and 128 are believed missing," Memorial spokesman Dmitry Gryshkin said.
Also Friday, Moscow said that airborne troops and marine units deployed in mountain areas of Chechnya will be withdrawn, Itar-Tass reported.
Thus "only the 42nd Motorized Infantry Division and commando forces of the Defense Ministry will be left in Chechnya in 2005," said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
"A decision has been made that the grouping of the Defense Ministry in the Chechen republic will be cut down by about 1,000 military servicemen," Ivanov said.
He explained that units of the 76th Airborne Division and marine brigades from the Kerch flotilla are stationed in mountain areas of Chechnya at present.
