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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Caucasus Corpse Count |
| 2005-07-28 |
| At least four policemen died in clashes with gunmen across Russia's lawless Caucasus on Thursday, officials and local media said. Police battled militants in Makhachkala, capital of the Dagestan region which borders rebel Chechnya, for several hours. They killed three rebels but lost one man, Russian Deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov told reporters. He said the rebels belonged to a local Islamist group responsible for a string of attacks that have killed dozens of police and troops in the region. Such attacks were once confined to Chechnya but have spread to infect other parts of Russia's volatile and mainly Muslim south. Many of them go unreported, and analysts say Russia loses men daily in Chechnya and neighbouring regions. Interfax news agency reported two policeman died after their car came under fire in the town of Karachayevsk -- around 320 km (200 miles) east of the Chechen capital Grozny. The attackers stole the police weapons and fled, the agency reported. The Chechen interior ministry said a policeman died after rebels attacked a police station in the village of Borozdinovskaya -- scene of an army raid two months ago during which 11 people went missing. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |