Six rebels killed in Chechen clashes

Six alleged rebels were killed in a skirmish with Russian troops in Chechnya, it was reported today.

Maj Gen Ilya Shabalkin, a spokesman for federal forces in Chechnya, said the clash occurred during a special operation to eliminate 15-20 rebels near the towns of Starye and Novye Atagi, just south of the Chechen capital Grozny.

He said four rebels’ bodies were found at the scene of the overnight battle and two were found severely wounded on the militants’ getaway route.

“They died without regaining consciousness,” Shabalkin said.

Russian troops withdrew from Chechnya in 1996 after a bruising 20-month war that left the region de facto independent.

Troops rolled back in 1999 after rebels raided the neighbouring southern Russian region of Dagestan and after a series of apartment house explosions in three Russian cities that authorities blamed on the militants.

Rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov ordered rebels to observe a ceasefire this month and renewed his repeated call for talks with the Russian leadership, which has consistently turned them down.

Russian military officials have said rebel attacks continue and that most of the rebels are beyond Maskhadov’s control.