KHANKALA, June 5 (AVN) - SU-24 Fencer frontline bombers have accomplished three sorties to hammer targets exposed by reconnaissance in Chechnya during the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the unified federal headquarters in the North Caucasus told the Military News Agency on Tuesday.
A MI-8 Hip helicopter equipped with an IR imager took off once, exposing five targets and inflicting strikes on them. MI-24 Hind helicopters escorted seven motorcades and a train. Another group of combat helicopters inflicted several missile strikes on small rebel groups in hard-to-reach mountains in Chechnya. A 15-strong rebel detachment was scattered near Russian-Georgian border. After that an examination group landed from helicopters and found two killed and two wounded rebels on the site. MI-8 Hip and MI-26 Halo military and transport helicopters airlifted 83 people and 11t load in the interests of the federal troops and at the request of the local administrations.
An AN-12 Cub, an AN-72 Coaler and two AN-26 Curl planes transported 139 servicemen and 24.5t technical load to Mozdok, the main federal base in the North Caucasus, and back to central Russia.