| Five officers of the Chechen presidential security service were killed in an armed clash with a rebel group near Avtury in the Shali district, head of the service headquarters Artur Akhmadov told Interfax on Tuesday morning. He said a special operation to encircle and destroy a rebel group had been conducted on the outskirts of the village. Some 10 rebels were killed in the shootout that ensued. Two bodies were later discovered and identified. Akhmadov said the rebels were members of the so-called Emir Asad group. He added that two of the security officers were killed on the scene and three others died later as a result of the wounds they suffered. He said law enforcers were continuing to comb the woods around Avtury in search of the rebels who had attempted to enter Avtury. He said that on Tuesday morning, the security service launched another major operation on islands on the Terek river between the Gudermes and Shelkovskaya districts. Security officers are searching the islands for rebels and secret arms depots. |