TROOPS PREPARE FOR ATTACK BY CHECHEN REBELS.

Byline: Associated Press 

Russian forces beefed up security around the Chechen capital, Grozny, after reports that separatist rebels were positioning themselves for a renewed attack, news agencies said Saturday.

A regiment of 100 Russian troops and Interior Ministry forces has begun around-the-clock patrols, and federal forces have restricted access to the city, the Interfax news agency said.

Military officials told Interfax that separatist leader Dzhokar Dudayev had ordered his field commanders to "storm the nest" of Moscow-backed Chechen leader Doku Zavgayev by Monday.

Yuri Plugin, the pro-Moscow deputy minister of internal affairs, told Interfax that Dudayev loyalists were building up their ranks in several Grozny suburbs.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said that federal positions in Grozny had been shelled 12 times since Friday. One Russian serviceman was killed and nine were wounded in the shelling, Interfax said.

Earlier this month, rebel forces seized Grozny in a surprise attack. Russian troops regained control after several days of fighting - the fiercest in Grozny since the beginning of the 16-month war.

In December 1994, President Boris Yeltsin sent thousands of troops into Chechnya to end its three-year independence drive. Up to 30,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians.

In southern Chechnya on Saturday, Russian troops were reported to be girding up for an assault on Komsomolskoye. The rebel-held village has been sealed off by federal troops, and an assault on the well-armed rebels could come as early as tonight, Interfax said.

In the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny, unknown gunmen in camouflage opened fire on a bus carrying construction workers. The driver was killed and several passengers were wounded, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.

A Russian armored personnel carrier in the same district ran over a mine. Several soldiers were killed and injured, ITAR-Tass said.