GROZNY, Russia, March 11 (UPI) -- The prime minister of Chechnya says that 7,000 insurgent separatists have surrendered to the Russian government since 1999.
Ramzan Kadyrov said that those who gave up arms have received amnesty, the Novosti news agency reported.
Kadyrov is the son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in 2004 after switching from being a separatist to supporting the Russian government.
Kadyrov said that returning militants to normal civilian life was his father's main aim.
Many of the former militants are now in military units fighting the insurgents, Kadyrov said.
A bitter civil war has split Chechnya for years with accusations that the Russian government has violated the human rights of Chechens and that the insurgents are terrorists.
