| Five Russian soldiers and three rebels were killed in Chechnya, either in fighting or by exploding landmines Monday and Tuesday, a military source said. Three soldiers were killed Tuesday in fighting near southeastern Shali that also claimed the lives of three rebels, a Russian military official based in Chechnya told AFP on condition of anonymity. Another six soldiers were wounded. One soldier was killed Tuesday near southern Shatoy when the military truck he was riding in struck a mine. Another three were wounded. On Monday a soldier was killed by a mine in southeastern Vedeno, while another was wounded. Elsewhere, a pro-Russian Chechen police officer was killed in a gunfight on Monday after his patrol was attacked in the Chechen capital Grozny. Two of his colleagues were wounded. |