Moscow. The United Nations voiced concern Friday at first-hand reports of arbitrary detention and torture of women in Russia's war-torn republic of Chechnya, a UN official said Friday.

"I heard first-hand accounts of women being arbitrarily detained and tortured following targeted operations (by the Russian special forces)," Yakin Erturk, UN special rapporteur on violence against women, said after a visit to Chechnya.

"This is said to be in response to women's involvement in terrorist attacks, particularly as suicide bombers," Erturk explained.

Two women were among the commando team that seized a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, in September, resulting in 344 deaths, and many suicide bombings over the past few years have been committed by so-called "black widows" seeking to avenge their dead husbands, sons or brothers.

"In the absence of the rule of law, the civilian population suffers abuse by security forces and Chechen armed groups, leaving a climate of fear and insecurity," Erturk warned.