Chechen rebels kill at least 48 in Russian attack

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.

Three high-ranking regional officials were among the dead in the militants' foray into Ingushetia.

The attacks underscored the Russian military's failure to defeat separatists in neighbouring Chechnya after five years of fighting, and raised new fears of spreading violence in southern Russia.