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Three Children Among 16 Killed In Chechnya
MOSCOW, May 21 (News Agencies) - Three children were killed in a bomb explosion in Grozny, the capital of war-ravaged Chechnya, where 13 other people were killed over the weekend, news agencies quoted Russian forces as saying Monday.
The children aged four, seven and 15 were killed when the bomb exploded in a ruined building where they were playing, the breakaway republic's pro-Russian police told Interfax.
Two Russian soldiers were also killed, and four others wounded, by separatist gunfire and landmine explosions in Grozny, the Russian interior ministry told the agency.
The bodies of three other Grozny inhabitants, bearing traces of knife and bullet wounds, were discovered elsewhere in the city, the press service of Russian military command at nearby Khankala was cited as saying by ITAR-TASS.
A fourth body had also been found, Interfax reported without giving further information, but the military gave no details of the victim's ethnic origins, Russian or Chechen.
Meanwhile, two rebel fighters were killed in a clash with federal troops at Prigorodnoye, around 15 kilometers (nine miles) south of Grozny, the Russian interior ministry told ITAR-TASS.
Two others died in a shootout at Davydenko, 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the Chechen capital, Russian military sources told Interfax.
A top rebel commander, reportedly close to Jordanian-born warlord Khattab, was among three separatist fighters killed in clashes at Serzhen-Yurt and Mesker-Yurt, southeast of Grozny, the military said.
Russian forces have officially lost 3,098 troops since the start of the 20-month war in Chechnya, although the unofficial toll is much higher.
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