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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Caucasus Corpse Count |
| 2005-09-01 |
| Federal forces raided a Chechen rebel hideout Wednesday, and a gunbattle left six people dead, including four militants who were suspected of planning a series of attacks in Chechnya, officials said. In a dawn operation, police units surrounded a house in Novoterskoye in northern Chechnya where the suspected militants were hiding out, said Ruslan Atsayev, a spokesman for the regional Interior Ministry branch. The rebels opened fire and two police officers were killed in addition to three militants, Atsayev said. A fourth rebel managed to escape but was killed later near the house, the spokesman said. He identified one of the dead militants as a top rebel commander in Grozny, Bislan Madayev, who he said had organized a series of terrorist acts in the city. Separately, federal forces discovered a weapons cache on the outskirts of Grozny that included Igla shoulder-launched missiles, flame-throwers and high-caliber machine guns, Atsayev said. The militants were believed to be planning attacks on military helicopters and top officials in the Moscow-backed Chechen government, Interfax quoted Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov as saying. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |