Six Russian Soldiers, Militant Killed In Chechnya

(RFE/RL)

3 February 2006 -- Six Russian soldiers and a Chechen fighter have been killed since 2 February in fighting in Chechnya.

AFP quoted an unidentified official with the pro-Russian Chechen administration as saying that three soldiers were killed during a series of attacks by Chechen separatists.

Two other soldiers were killed when their vehicle was attacked near the village of Alkhan-Yurt in southeastern Chechnya.

The sixth fatality was a member of the Vostok Battalion, composed of Chechens under Russian command. He died in clashes with rebels in the southeast. A Chechen guerrilla was also killed in the clashes.

Despite Russian statements that the conflict in Chechnya is over, firefights occur almost daily between some 80,000 troops and a mixture of Chechen independence fighters and Islamist militants.

(AFP)