| Four Russian soldiers and one police officer were killed in Chechnya in the past day by separatist rebels, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen civilian administration said today. Russian warplanes and artillery opened up on suspected rebel bases in the republic’s southern mountains and foothills, the official said on condition of anonymity. Two soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in rebel attacks on military outposts. One died and two were wounded when rebels ambushed a military car on the outskirts of Grozny, and a Russian sapper was blown up by a land mine that he was trying to defuse in the Grozny suburbs. A policeman was killed and another wounded when the driver of a car opened fire on them at a checkpoint in the capital, the official said, adding that the drier was killed in return fire. |