A bus was blown apart by a remote-controlled mine in Chechnya Thursday, killing at least six people just weeks after a referendum touted as the start of a peace process. The explosive was hidden in a pile of trash in the capital Grozny, said Yuri Miroshnichenko, a duty officer at the Emergency Situations Ministry's office for southern Russia. A Chechen Justice Ministry official said on condition of anonymity the bus had come from Kankala, the Russian military's main base in Chechnya, about one mile from Grozny.

Miroshnichenko said the blast killed six people and wounded 11. The Justice Ministry official said eight were killed.

In the March 23 referendum, advertised by the Kremlin as the beginning of a peace process, 96 percent of voters approved a Moscow-backed constitution that cemented the breakaway republic to the Russian Federation.

Rights advocates say the referendum is no substitute for talks with the ousted nationalist government - something Moscow has ruled out.

Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader, Akhmad Kadyrov, said the attack was staged by forces who are "frustrated that a process of effective normalization and peaceful settlement has begun," the Interfax news agency said.

Also Thursday, Moscow heaped criticism on a proposal by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog, calling for an international tribunal to prosecute rights abuses by both Russian soldiers and Chechen nationalist fighters.

The Foreign Ministry called the assembly's resolution "nearsighted" and "offensive."

Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said the Wednesday's resolution could undermine efforts to restore peace and stability to the region.

Human rights groups have accused Russian troops of killing and torturing civilians during so-called "mopping-up" operations in search of the nationalists. Russian officials acknowledge some abuses, but maintain they are not widespread and that all crimes are thoroughly prosecuted.

Meanwhile, at least seven Russian servicemen were killed and 13 wounded in nationalists attacks and mine explosions in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, an official in Chechen administration said Thursday.

Chechnya has seen two wars in the last decade. The 1994-96 conflict ended when Russian troops pulled out after a 20-month campaign, leaving the republic de facto independent. Russian forces returned in 1999, following nationalist incursions into a neighboring region and a series of deadly apartment house bombings in Russia blamed on Chechen fighters.

PHOTO CAPTION

Chechnya's pro-Russian chief administrator Akhmad Kadyrov, who immediately blamed the explosion on separatist nationalist fighters although there was no initial claim of responsibility for the attack (AFP/File/Khalil Mazraawi)
- Apr 03 1:21 PM ET