Chechen Fighters Kill 6 Russian Soldiers

20/08/2003| IslamWeb

Fighting persisted in Chechnya on Tuesday, with six Russian occupation soldiers killed and 11 others wounded in the war-ravaged region. Three were killed and seven wounded in resistance attacks on Russian positions, while two died in a clash with Chechen fighters near the village of Dyshne-Vedeno, in southern Chechnya, the official in the Moscow-backed regional administration said on condition of anonymity. The sixth serviceman was killed, along with a Chechen police officer, when a military vehicle hit a land mine near the southern town of Shali, the official said. Four other servicemen were wounded in the explosion. Russian forces withdrew from Chechnya in 1996 after a devastating 20-month occupation, leaving resistance fighters in control. Russian troops returned in September 1999. Also Tuesday, Justice Minister Yuri Chaika said he has sent a letter to the British Home Office stating that Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev will be treated 'humanely' if he is extradited to Russia, Interfax and the ITAR-Tass news agencies reported. Zakayev, an envoy of Aslan Maskhadov, who was elected president of Chechnya between the wars in 1997 but is now denounced by Russia as a terrorist, faces 13 charges, including kidnapping and murder, if extradited from Britain. Defense lawyers in Zakayev's extradition case in a London court have said he would not get a fair trial and could be tortured if he is returned to Russia. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Chechen resistance 'ameer' Shamil Basayev in Grozny, Oct. 28, 1999. (AP Photo/Ruslan Musayev, File)