Russia Launches Raids as Chechnya Toll Grows

At least six Russian soldiers have been killed and 17 others wounded in rebel attacks and land mine explosions in Chechnya, officials said Thursday.

The Russian military has continued to suffer daily losses in the separatist republic despite Moscow’s long-held claim that rebel forces have been largely defeated.

Russian troops launched security raids throughout the region Thursday. The military said 14 rebels were killed in air and artillery strikes over the last 24 hours, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Russian helicopter gunships and heavy artillery targeted suspected guerrilla bases in Chechnya’s southern mountains, while federal forces searched for rebels in foothill towns and villages.

More than 50 people were detained over the last 24 hours, said an official with Chechnya’s Moscow-appointed administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said rebels shelled federal outposts 24 times, killing three of the troops and wounding 13.

A military vehicle hit a mine in the eastern town of Argun, killing one soldier and wounding another. Two soldiers were wounded in a similar incident in the Chechen capital, Grozny, on Wednesday, the official said.

Also Wednesday, two Russian police officers were killed and a sapper was badly wounded, the official added.

Russia pulled out of Chechnya after suffering a defeat in their 1994-96 war.

Its forces returned in September 1999, following incursions by Chechen-based rebels into neighboring Dagestan and after apartment house bombings in Russia.

The war in Chechnya has ravaged the tiny, mountainous republic and prompted more than 150,000 Chechens to flee to neighboring Ingushetia.