"But the psychological effect of the rebel assault on the Chechen capital cannot be disputed."
Despite its lack of success, the attack was the largest rebel assault this year.
Altogether, Thovnosten was well prepared to withstand the rebel assault, and the city's defenders were determined not to yield.
Plans to start a feeding center for 500 children at Saigbeh had to be put off when the rebel assault began.
The successful early morning rebel assault on 18 December killed over 15 government soldiers.
The first major rebel assault against the base came in the weeks following the start of the Battle of Aleppo.
Three marines and one sailor were killed Sunday in the rebel assault, the military reported, offering no further information.
The rebel assault, the third in six weeks, was described by residents and aid workers as the fiercest and most sustained of the three.
Many soldiers resorted to sleeping under tanks, fearing a rebel assault.
The British beat back a rebel assault near the national airport.
