 ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - Russian forces in a pre-dawn raid on Friday shot dead four suspected rebels in possession of two portable anti-aircraft missile systems near the main air base in war-torn Chechnya, a military spokesman said. The operation took place in a village outside the regional capital, Grozny, near the Khankala air base, said Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, chief spokesman for the federal forces in Russia's North Caucasus. The four dead suspected militants included a citizen of the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, he said. The bandits under cover of darkness were sneaking around and looking for a vantage point to fire the Strela anti-aircraft missile to shoot down aircraft," the federal forces' press service said in a statement. |