Twenty three people, including two police officers and 18 rebels, were killed over the weekend in Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya, Russian agencies said today.
Some of the deaths occurred when separatists attacked several key posts, including a police station, the public prosecutor's office and administrative buildings in Ashkoi-Martan 30 kilometres (21 miles) south west of Grozny, a reporter said.
The agency Interfax, quoting senior local government official Saidy Khachukayev, said among those killed during the two-hour-long attack were two police officers. Itar Tass said two policemen were also injured.
Agencies did not give precise details of the number of rebels killed in the attack.
A senior pro-Russian official in the republic, Mr Ruslan Djumayev, was also killed in the village of Starye Atagui, some 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny, Interfax said.
Another civilian was killed in the same locality, a local official said, giving no details of his death were given.
Itar Tass said Russian forces had killed 18 rebel Chechens over the weekend.
In other incidents four policemen were injured in a fire-fight in Chechnya's second city Gudermes, some 30 km (21 miles) east of Grozny, Ria Novosti quoted a Russian Interior Ministry spokesman as saying.
More than 3,000 Russian troops have officially been registered killed in the twoyear war, Russia's second in Chechnya in seven years.
The Russian soldiers' mothers committee fears the true number of Russian casualties may be closer to 10,000. No one knows how many Chechen rebels have died -- 25 were reported killed on Friday alone.
AFP