Perilous
Times
Russia police death toll in rebel operation now 17
By SERGEI VENYAVSKY, Associated Press
ROSTON-ON-DON, Russia — Russian police say the number of police
officers killed in a four-day operation to wipe out several
militant bands in the volatile Caucasus republics of Chechnya and
Dagestan has increased to 17.
The fighting is some of the bloodiest and most sustained reported
in the region in recent months. A police spokesman for the
Caucasus region said Saturday that another 24 officers had been
wounded.
Police say three rebel bands, totaling 50 to 100 militants, have
been blocked by police in the Nozhai-Yurt area of Chechnya and an
adjacent part of Dagestan. The police spokesman, who declined to
give his name, did not say how many rebels had been killed, but
officials said Friday that at least 20 had died.
The Russian Caucasus has been destabilized by an Islamic
insurgency that spread across the region after two separatist wars
in Chechnya.