To smother Chechen insurgency, a campaign of house burning

Valentina Basargina, in her house, burned last month by arsonists. The police suspected her nephew of joining the insurgency. (C. J. Chivers/The New York Times )

In a campaign to punish families with sons suspected of supporting the insurgency, at least a dozen homes have been set ablaze since midsummer, residents and a local human rights organization said.