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Clashes with Chechen rebels-(similar atacks as in Iraq)
cnews ^ | July 10, 2004 | n/a

Posted on 07/11/2004 7:32:53 PM PDT by Flavius

Clashes with Chechen rebels

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (AP) - Five Russian servicemen were killed in attacks and three others by mines in rebel Chechnya over the past day, an official in the Moscow-backed Kremlin administration said Saturday.

One died from shots fired from a passing car in Grozny, the Chechen capital, the official said on condition of anonymity. Four others were killed in firing on Russian military positions throughout the republic, he said.

Three soldiers died when their vehicle detonated a mine near the village of Itum-Kale.

The Itum-Kale region and two other sectors of Chechnya came under assault from Russian artillery, the official said.

Much of the fighting has been a daily repetition of the pattern of small hit-and-run rebel attacks followed by Russian artillery attacks on suspected rebel positions. The war in Chechnya, the second in the last decade, has stretched on for nearly five years.

Neither side has made significant headway. Russian forces have control of Chechnya's northern flatlands but have been unable to uproot rebels from the southern mountains or drive them out of the capital.

The continuing fighting has fuelled fears that the war could spread into neighbouring regions. The concern was exacerbated by last month's militant attack against law enforcers which killed 90 people in neighbouring Ingushetia.

On Saturday, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported a large cache of weapons, ammunition, explosives and timing devices had been found in a home in Ingushetia.

The current war began in September 1999 after Chechen fighters made incursions into neighbouring Dagestan. Soon after, about 300 people died in apartment bombings that officials blamed on the separatists.

Russian forces had withdrawn from Chechnya in 1996 after rebels repelled their advances in a 20-month war. The withdrawal left Chechnya de facto independent and has since been subject to lawlessness.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: caucasus; chechnya; checnya; russians
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1 posted on 07/11/2004 7:32:56 PM PDT by Flavius
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To: Flavius

Where are their helmets? A shortage, perhaps? At least their uniforms seem intact. Reminds me of the forlorn soldiers in threadbare uniforms I saw on the streets of Saint Petersburg, Russia in '96, begging for alms from a Russian public who had little to give.However, most did drop a few coins into the soldier's hand.


2 posted on 07/11/2004 9:02:17 PM PDT by luvbach1 (Leftists don't acknowledge that Reagan won the cold war because they rooted for the other side.)
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