Rebels kill five soldiers in Chechnya ambush

Rebels have ambushed a federal convoy in southern Chechnya, killing five soldiers and wounding another five, according to official sources.

Four other Russian soldiers and two Chechen police officers have died in separate rebel shootings and landmine explosions since Friday.

The five soldiers died when a federal convoy travelling through southern Chechnya came under attack by a group of rebels near the village of Ushkaloi.

In a separate attack, two paratroopers were wounded in a fire fight with rebels near the village of Agishty in the Vedeno district. Three rebels were killed in that clash.

A Chechen police officer was shot by an unknown assailant in the town of Achkhoi-Martan on Friday night, and another Chechen police officer died in the capital Grozny when his patrol came under rebel fire.

Two Russian soldiers were killed when their military vehicle detonated a land mine near the village of Samashki in the Achkhoi-Martan district, a Chechen government official said.

Russian aircraft and artillery pounded suspected rebel bases in Itum-Kale, Nozhai-Yurt, Kurchaloi, Shali and Urus-Martan districts.

At least 100 people have been detained since Friday on suspicion of being linked to the rebels, the official said.

Meanwhile, power was cut to 50 settlements in southern Chechnya after an energy transmission line was dismantled near Sernovodsk. Officials suspect thieves took the metal and electrical wiring.