At least two Russian soldiers have died in bombings in Chechnya, including a suicide attack on an Interior Ministry battalion base, Russian news agencies reported today.
One soldier died and 11 were wounded when two suicide bombers rammed a jeep packed with explosives through the fence of the base in Vedeno, south of the region's capital Grozny, a spokeman for the battalion was quoted as saying by RIA.
Another soldier died in a radio-controlled bomb attack in the village of Serzhen-Yurt, which lies between Vedeno and Grozny.
It was the second round of fatal attacks on Russian troops in the past week in Chechnya, a north Caucasus territory where Russia has fought two wars against separatist rebels since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
On Sunday, two senior Russian officers died after a gun and bomb attack on their convoy.
Russian security officials have predicted a rise in rebel attacks in Chechnya after Russia's military incursion into neighbouring Georgia, to crush Tbilisi's attempt to retake its breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Analysts say Moscow's decision to recognise rebel Georgian regions as independent states will encourage separatist sentiments in Chechnya and elsewhere in the Russian north Caucasus.