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Caucasus Corpse Count
Rebel attacks and land-mine explosions in Chechnya killed at least nine Russian servicemen and local pro-Moscow police officers over the past 24 hours, an official in the regionâs Kremlin-backed government said Monday. Four of the servicemen were killed in rebel attacks on Russian positions, and three Chechen policemen were shot dead on Monday morning. An officer of the Federal Security Service, the KGBâs main successor agency, died Sunday and three others were wounded when their car hit a rebel land mine near the southern town of Achkhoi-Martan. A federal sapper also died Sunday when a land mine he was trying to defuse exploded in the capital, Grozny. Federal forces launched artillery barrages on suspected rebel positions in southern Chechnya, but low clouds kept military aircraft on the ground. Russian forces also conducted security sweeps, detaining at least 170 people since Sunday on suspicion of rebel links.Dmitry Grushkin, an activist with the Russian human rights group Memorial, said Monday that 477 civilians were kidnapped in Chechnya last year. Grushkin said that 155 of them were released, 49 were found dead and 273 remained missing. An additional 33 people were abducted last month, of whom 14 were released, one was found dead and 18 are still missing. Interfax quoted Memorial chief Oleg Orlov as saying that federal troops and Chechen police were responsible for most of the kidnappings, but that some were carried out by rebels. The Kremlin has blamed rebels for the kidnappings. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-02-10 |
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