| Twenty-four rebels have been killed in a series of armed clashes outside the Shali district’s village of Avtury over the past 24 hours, Chechen Deputy Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax on Tuesday. "The fight continued for several hours" after Chechen presidential security service units had spotted this rebel group near Avtury, Alkhanov said. "A reliable report suggests that 24 rebels have been killed. We are searching for the rest of the rebels. The village of Avtury has been sealed off and an operation to find the rebels and detain them is in progress," he said. "Eighteen servicemen of the [Chechen presidential security service] have been killed," Alkhanov said. |