By Jamestown Foundation
Insurgent violence has continued unabated in the North Caucasus this week, with five federal servicemen dying in a shootout with insurgents in Chechnya yesterday (February 4) and Russia’s security services again accusing Georgia of aiding militants in the North Caucasus.
A source in Chechnya’s security apparatus told Kavkazsky Uzel today (February 5) that five federal troops were killed yesterday during a firefight with insurgents in Chechnya’s Urus-Martan district. The source said the battle between members of a unit of interior ministry internal troops and a group of militants numbering up to 15 took place several kilometers to the south of the village of Komsomolskoe. Four servicemen were killed and another four wounded, including two officers. The federal forces then ordered an artillery strike on the area in which the rebels were blockaded, after which another shootout occurred when the rebels tried to break out of the encirclement. Another serviceman was killed and two wounded during this second shootout.
Yesterday’s battle in Urus-Martan coincided with the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s announcement that a special operation had been successfully carried out elsewhere in the republic –in a wooded area near the Grozny district village of Dachu-Borzoi.
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Posted under News
This post was written by mcarl on February 8, 2010
