REBEL attacks in war-torn Chechnya killed eight Russian soldiers and wounded eight more over the last 24 hours, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said today. Federal positions came under rebel fire 22 times in the past day, killing five soldiers and wounding seven. - Two servicemen were killed when rebels strafed their military car with gunfire near Lakha-Varandy.
- Another serviceman died and one was injured during a rebel attack in Chechnya’s second-largest city, Gudermes.
- One Chechen policeman was killed and another wounded when they stepped on a land mine in Grozny.
The rebels are outnumbered and outgunned by federal forces, but they have made deadly use of hit-and-run attacks and land mines. Federal forces, meanwhile, pound rebel positions with heavy artillery daily. In the previous 24 hours, federal forces shelled suspected rebel bases and groups of rebels in the Shatoi, Urus-Martan, Nozha-Yurt and Gudermes districts. Federal forces also fired shells into the suburbs of Grozny.
"Vanya! Would you take out the garbage?"
"After the shelling, dear!" |
At least 150 Chechens were rounded up in security sweeps over the past 24 hours. The sweeps have been widely condemned by civilians for alleged mass human rights abuses.
| ... especially the ones caught packing heat and lugging explosives... |
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