4 Russian Soldiers Killed in Chechnya Convoy Ambush

Four Russian soldiers were killed when rebel fighters ambushed a military unit in central Chechnya in the second attack on a convoy in two days, an official said Saturday.

The convoy was fired upon Friday while moving through the Vedeno Gorge, a region that has seen heavy rebel activity since the start of the war in the separatist republic, according to an official with the pro-Russian civilian government in Chechnya.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not have further casualty figures. The attack was one of 12 carried out by the rebels in the last 24 hours across Chechnya, the official said.

Six soldiers were killed Thursday when rebels ambushed a convoy.

Russian special forces were sent to the area of Friday’s ambush, and nearby villages were blocked off as troops searched for the attackers.

Rebel ambushes and checkpoint attacks have sapped the morale of Russian troops, though both sides have refrained from major offensives in recent weeks.

On Saturday, Russian helicopters attacked the mountains of southern Chechnya. Russian forces also defused several remote control mines that rebels had planted along a main highway running west from the Chechen capital, Grozny, to the neighboring region of Ingushetia, the official said.

Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the civilian government, sharply criticized the Russian military for its harsh action in Chechnya, including mass detentions as part of “mopping-up” operations.

“I spoke openly against the Chechen illegal armed formations because they terrorized the people, but the same people continue to suffer from the forces for whose protection they hoped so much,” Kadyrov said in Gudermes, according to the Interfax news agency.