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| Caucasus |
| Caucasus Corpse Count |
| 2004-05-25 |
| A CLASH between Russian servicemen and police from Chechnya's Moscow-backed government left five people dead, an official said today, describing a shootout that underlined the chaos and mistrust pervading the war-ravaged region. The clash broke out after Chechen police accompanying an oil truck ignored an order from the soldiers to stop, and the servicemen opened fire, the official in the Moscow-backed government said on condition of anonymity. He said three servicemen and two police were killed. One Russian serviceman and one Chechen policeman were wounded in the firefight, which took place yesterday near the town of Achkhoi-Martan, southwest of the Chechen capital, Grozny, according to the official. In other fighting over the past day, four Russian servicemen were killed and 10 others wounded in rebel attacks on federal positions in Chechnya, the official said. He said two rebels were killed and two servicemen were wounded in a shootout in Grozny. A spokesman for Russian forces in Chechnya, Ilya Shabalkin, said three rebels were killed on the outskirts of Grozny, including two he said were involved in organising the bombing that killed Chechnya's Moscow-backed president this month, Russian news agencies reported. The rebels were killed after they refused orders from Russian forces to surrender, Interfax and ITAR-Tass quoted Shabalkin as saying. The reports included no evidence or explanation of their alleged role in the attack. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |