Aussie E
05-18-2004, 02:18 PM
from www.theaustralian.news.com.au
12 soldiers killed in ambush
By Yuri Bagrov in Russia
May 19, 2004
AT LEAST 12 Russian servicemen were killed when rebels ambushed two Russian military vehicles in forested mountains in Chechnya, officials said today.
Another seven Russian soldiers died in separate attacks and land mine explosions.
A vehicle carrying five Russian Interior Ministry troops hit a land mine planted by the rebels near the village of Alkhan-Yurt in southern Chechnya while on a patrol mission yesterday. Rebels then fired on the vehicle, killing four servicemen, said an official with Chechnya's Moscow-backed civilian administration who asked not be named.
The soldier who survived called reinforcements, and a Russian armoured personnel carrier arrived at the scene and pursued the rebels only to detonate another mine. Rebels then fired rockets at it from a forest, killing eight more Russian servicemen. One soldier went missing and nine were wounded, the Chechen official said.
In other fighting over the past 24 hours, rebels attacked federal positions 15 times over the past 24 hours, killing two soldiers and wounding seven.
Another three soldiers were killed and one was wounded when their vehicle exploded outside of Prigorodnoye on the outskirts of the capital Grozny, the Chechen official said. In Grozny, a military truck hit a land mine, killing two soldiers and wounding six.
Despite its overwhelming superiority in manpower and weaponry, the Russian military has failed to uproot rebels from Chechnya's southern mountains or from the capital during the second war in Chechnya.
The first, 1994-96 war ended with the Russian army's withdrawal, leaving Chechnya de facto independent and largely lawless for three years. Russian troops swept back in again in September 1999 following raids on a neighbouring province launched by Chechnya-based rebels and apartment building explosions Moscow blamed on the insurgents.
Lest We Forget
RIP
12 soldiers killed in ambush
By Yuri Bagrov in Russia
May 19, 2004
AT LEAST 12 Russian servicemen were killed when rebels ambushed two Russian military vehicles in forested mountains in Chechnya, officials said today.
Another seven Russian soldiers died in separate attacks and land mine explosions.
A vehicle carrying five Russian Interior Ministry troops hit a land mine planted by the rebels near the village of Alkhan-Yurt in southern Chechnya while on a patrol mission yesterday. Rebels then fired on the vehicle, killing four servicemen, said an official with Chechnya's Moscow-backed civilian administration who asked not be named.
The soldier who survived called reinforcements, and a Russian armoured personnel carrier arrived at the scene and pursued the rebels only to detonate another mine. Rebels then fired rockets at it from a forest, killing eight more Russian servicemen. One soldier went missing and nine were wounded, the Chechen official said.
In other fighting over the past 24 hours, rebels attacked federal positions 15 times over the past 24 hours, killing two soldiers and wounding seven.
Another three soldiers were killed and one was wounded when their vehicle exploded outside of Prigorodnoye on the outskirts of the capital Grozny, the Chechen official said. In Grozny, a military truck hit a land mine, killing two soldiers and wounding six.
Despite its overwhelming superiority in manpower and weaponry, the Russian military has failed to uproot rebels from Chechnya's southern mountains or from the capital during the second war in Chechnya.
The first, 1994-96 war ended with the Russian army's withdrawal, leaving Chechnya de facto independent and largely lawless for three years. Russian troops swept back in again in September 1999 following raids on a neighbouring province launched by Chechnya-based rebels and apartment building explosions Moscow blamed on the insurgents.
Lest We Forget
RIP