| REBEL attacks killed seven Russian soldiers in Chechnya and four others died when trying to defuse a land mine, officials said today. Six of the soldiers died as Russian military positions came under fire a total of 19 times over the previous 24 hours, said an official in the Kremlin-backed Chechen administration. Another was killed in clash with rebels near the village of Chiri-Yurt, at the edge of the foothills of the mountains where rebels take shelter, the official said. The official and Russian news reports said four sappers were killed when a land mine they were trying to defuse exploded in the Shatoi region deep in the mountains. Separatist rebels have used mines widely, often detonating them by remote control, in their fight against the Russians. The insurgents also mount near-daily hit-and-run attacks and fire on Russian positions. The larger and more heavily armed Russian forces attack suspected rebel positions by air and with artillery shelling, but have been unable to uproot the fighters from the mountains or purge them from Grozny, the Chechen capital, despite a massive military presence in the city. |