THOUSANDS of troops poured into a southern Russian city yesterday chasing suspected Chechen rebels who set fire to police and government buildings and killed at least 48 people in overnight attacks.

Heavily-armed militants launched near-simultaneous overnight attacks against police headquarters, border guard stations and other government offices in Ingushetia, a Russian region bordering warring Chechnya, killing 46 people including three high-ranking regional officials.

Russian troops today continued pounding bands of Chechen rebels in the area where a British TV cameraman was killed yesterday.

A Russian military helicopter has been shot down in the republic of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya.