The bodies of about a-hundred and fifty people are reported to have been found in a mass grave near the village of Tangi-Chu in southern Chechnya.

An official of the republic's Moscow-approved government said about half the bodies were wearing Chechen rebel uniforms.

The rest were civilians who, he said, appeared to have no marks of violence on them.

He said exhumations had begun and an investigation was underway.

In Moscow, an army commander, General Valery Manilov, said rebel fighters were continuing to infiltrate the capital, Grozny.

He was speaking after reports of persistent hit-and-run attacks on Russian positions in the city.

However, General Manilov said Russian forces were gradually imposing a stranglehold and the war was coming to an end.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service