KHANKALA, August 30 (AVN) - Chechen rebels staged two blasts and attacked federal personnel and installations 16 times on Wednesday, killing two policemen, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry department for Chechnya said.
Two servicemen of the Interior Ministry, two Defence Ministry soldiers and 11 policemen were injured, the spokesman told the Military News Agency.
A T-62M escort tank touched off a landmine near the Gikalovsky village in the Grozny rural district at 11.00 Moscow time (0700 GMT). It was conducting engineering reconnaissance between Gikalovsky and Khankala. As a result of the blast, two Interior Ministry servicemen Savelyev and Svalov received fragmentation injuries and were taken to hospital.
A Ural truck carrying elite policemen of the Khakassiya detachment was blasted by a radio controlled landmine on the outskirts of the Kurchaloi village at 11.30 Moscow time (0730 GMT). The policemen returing from a strongpoint came under rebel fire right after the blast. As a result Sergeants Simonenko and Kutsenko died and 11 policemen and two servicemen of the local commandant's office were injured.
According to the spokesman, the Chechen police carried nine search and preventive operations in the troubled republic on Wednesday. They checked 24,720 people, 13,709 vehicles and registered 723 administrative offences, including 131 violations of passport rules.
Policemen seized a machine-gun, six grenade launchers, 10 assault rifles, a rifle, seven hunting rifles, 17 artillery and mortar shells, 84 grenades and grenade launcher rounds, 12 hand grenades, 2,937 cartridges for small arms and 1kg of explosives. Besides, eight illegal oil refineries and two makeshift bombs were eliminated.