President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to "wipe out" pro-Chechen militants who staged an audacious attack on government buildings in the capital of a predominantly Muslim republic in southern Russia today.

More than 100 heavily armed militants launched simultaneous attacks around 9am on eight targets - including police stations, security service offices, and the local airport in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkariya.

Heavy automatic gunfire and explosions rattled through Nalchik as federal forces cordoned off the city centre and moved in, killing any gunman who resisted arrest, according to the Interfax news agency.

By nightfall, local officials said at least 59 rebels had been killed and another 17 captured. They said 12 police and 12 civilians had also been killed.

But the death toll was expected to rise as corpses were still being collected. Russia’s NTV television station showed footage of several bodies, covered with blankets, lying in the streets in pools of blood.

Witnesses described how the battles began in the early hours in a suburb. By mid-morning, much of the city of 235,000 had been cordoned off, but the clatter of gunfire and grenades echoed across the town.

Police cars equipped with loudspeakers advised residents to evacuate from some areas while state radio told others to remain indoors as the city was placed in lockdown.

A local journalist said that the gunmen were dressed in civilian clothing and took advantage of panic to blend in with the local population, hiding weapons under their clothes as they changed locations, before opening fire again on security forces.

In scenes reminiscent of last year's bloody siege in Beslan, children from a school behind one of the police stations were evacuated under heavy gunfire.

Alexander Chekalin, the Deputy Interior Minister, said: "The president gave an instruction that not one gunman should be allowed to leave the town, and those who are armed and putting up resistance must be wiped out."

Mr Chekalin added that one group of rebels was holding an unknown number of hostages in Nalchik’s third regional police department, while three more rebels were holed up in a souvenir shop. “We are facing some serious night work. The militants will try to break out at night,” he said.

The Kavkaz-Centre website, used by rebels loyal to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, said that it had received a short message on behalf of the Caucasus Front claiming responsibility for the carefully co-ordinated attacks.

One local said: "I just woke up when an explosion went off. I could see buildings were on fire. Buildings in the centre are burning. I’ve heard grenades, machine guns, heavy machine guns."

"Fighting is going on everywhere. The attackers are trying to seize cars and burst their way out of the town," an unnamed military source said.

Yuri Ketov, the regional prosecutor, said: "These were meticulously planned and synchronised attacks. We have brought in extra interior ministry forces and armoured vehicles. Defence ministry troops have sealed off areas where operations are under way to disarm and eliminate the attackers."

Rene van der Linden, president of the Assembly of the Council of Europe, condemned the attacks. In a statement, he said that Europe would stand in solidarity with the Russian people.

"No cause can justify terrorism and only the total rejection of violence as a means of political struggle can bring peace to the region," he said.

Although this was the most dramatic operation since the Beslan school seizure, the assaults come amid an escalation of smaller-scale incidents that occur on an almost daily basis in Chechnya and adjacent provinces.

Reports suggest that Kabardino-Balkaria is becoming a refuge where Chechen rebels escape to recover. Basayev, the most extreme Chechen rebel leader who is believed to be the mastermind of Beslan, has reportedly been sighted there in recent months.

In December, gunmen raided the regional branch of the federal Drug Control Agency in Nalchik, killing four employees, looting an arsenal and setting the office ablaze.

Mr Putin has ordered security forces to deal more severely with suspected Islamic militants in the south and officials have declared that the conflict is winding down. The rebels, however, have vowed to continue their attacks until Russian forces leave.

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