GROZNY. April 18 (Interfax-AVN) - Three civilians died and one was seriously wounded when a Russian unit fired mortar shells at the village of Gorgachi, in Chechnya's Shatoi district, on Wednesday.
Two small children and a pregnant woman died in the shelling and a child was wounded, Saidasan Duzayev, district administration head, told Interfax on Thursday. The shells were fired by a unit stationed on the outskirts of the village of Borzoi, he said.
Duzayev said that he had immediately notified the Chechen leadership.
Residents of neighboring villages intend to stage an unauthorized protest rally and pass an appeal to the Russian leaders, he said.
Four Russian troopers were wounded earlier on Wednesday when their armored prime mover hit a landmine. Following that an operation may have been launched aimed at neutralizing the rebels who had planted the mine, officials in law-enforcement agencies think.