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TITLE: Russian Troop Killed in Chechnya |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: ITAR-TASS.-AFP |
DATE: January 1, 2001 |
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A Russian soldier was killed and five others wounded in the previous 24 hours in several clashes with Chechen rebels, the Russian army command announced Monday. The soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with rebels in the breakaway province's northern Shelkov region, said Interfax news agency citing the army command. Two Russian troops were wounded near Chiry-Yurt, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Chechen capital Grozny, with a third hurt in clashes in Urus-Martan, 25kms southwest of the capital. Two other soldiers were wounded in a shootout with rebels near Khankala, site of the Russian military airport in Grozny's suburbs, the army command said, without noting any casualties on the rebels' side. Grozny ushered in the new year in relative calm, with only sporadic gunfire heard overnight, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, after Russian forces beefed up security in anticipation of increased rebel activity on the holiday. The city was effectively closed on Sunday after roads in and out of the capital were sealed by federal troops. Traffic on the north Caucasus federal highway was also banned. Border crossings into the neighbouring republic of Dagestan, into the south Russian region of Stavropol, and the Kavkaz-1 checkpoint between Chechnya and Ingushetia, another Russian republic, were also closed, military sources said. END |