More than 20,000 people in western Chechnya have been left without gas after a rebel mine disabled a high-pressure gas supply line between Novy Sharoi and Achkhoi-Martan, ITAR-TASS reported Saturday.
Railway traffic to and from the republic's second city Gudermes was also at a standstill Saturday after an overnight bomb explosion set fire to a locomotive at the railway station.
Emergency services in the eastern city extinguished the fire in an hour, but a second time-bomb, containing explosives equivalent to three kilograms (seven pounds) of TNT, was found under another locomotive early Saturday.
A team of sappers defused an explosive device found near the home of Chechnya's pro-Russian administrator Akhmad Kadyrov in the eastern town of Tsentoroi, ITAR-TASS cited official sources saying Saturday.
Chechen rebels carried out 12 overnight fire attacks against Russian military commands, checkpoints and police stations in the nominal capital Grozny and Gudermes, wounding two people, the sources added.
For the past 13 months, Russian forces have been waging a self-styled "anti-terrorist" campaign against separatist Islamic rebels in the southern republic of Chechnya -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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