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| Caucasus |
| Caucasus Corpse Count |
| 2004-05-18 |
| At least 12 servicemen were killed when rebels ambushed two military vehicles in forested mountains in Chechnya, officials said Tuesday. Another seven soldiers died in separate attacks and land mine explosions. A vehicle carrying five Interior Ministry troops hit a land mine planted by the rebels near the village of Alkhan-Yurt in southern Chechnya while on a patrol mission Monday. Rebels then fired on the vehicle, killing four servicemen, said an official with Chechnya's Moscow-backed civilian administration who asked not be identified. The soldier who survived called reinforcements, and a federal armored personnel carrier arrived at the scene and pursued the rebels only to detonate another mine. Rebels then fired rockets at it from a forest, killing eight more servicemen. One soldier went missing and nine were wounded, the Chechen official said. In other fighting over the past 24 hours, rebels attacked federal positions 15 times, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. Another three soldiers were killed and one was wounded when their vehicle exploded outside of Prigorodnoye on the outskirts of Grozny, the Chechen official said. In Grozny, a military truck hit a land mine, killing two soldiers and wounding six. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |