| Land mine explosions killed two Russian soldiers and wounded six in the previous 24 hours across Chechnya, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said Tuesday. Another five soldiers were killed and five wounded when rebels fired on federal positions 18 times, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Outnumbered and outgunned by Russian soldiers, the rebels rely on land mines and hit-and-run attacks. Outside Nozhai-Yurt, one sapper was killed and three wounded as they worked to defuse land mines hidden along the roadside, the Chechen official said. Two more soldiers were wounded when they stepped on a land mine in the outskirts of Tsotsyn-Yurt village. Another soldier was killed and one was injured when a land mine exploded in Gansolchu in the Kurchaloi district. |