Three Russian soldiers, two of them officers, have been killed in the breakaway republic of Chechnya in the last 24 hours, Russian news agencies on Saturday quoted the Russian interior ministry as saying.
Two Russian officers of the interior ministry forces were killed and a third was injured by a remote-controlled mine in the capital Grozny, according to the AVN military information service.
A third soldier died in a rebel attack on a Russia checkpoint at Assinovskaya, near the border with Ingushetia, Interfax quoted the ministry as saying.
The ministry said several other Russian soldiers were injured in the checkpoint attack, which was carried out by separatist rebels armed with grenades and automatic weapons, Interfax reported. The rebels fled after a 30-minute exchange of fire with Russian troops.
The office of the breakaway Chechen President Alsan Mashkadov claimed responsibility for the assault, which it said killed two Russians and injured four others.
In the past 24 hours, federal positions in Chechnya have come under attack seven times from rebels firing mortars and grenades, AVN quoted the interior ministry as saying – MOSCOW (AFP)
