GROZNY. June 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Five rebels were killed while resisting the federal troops in a large-scale operation conducted by the Interior Ministry troops, law enforcement agencies and special services in the village of Chechen-Aul, 10 km south of Grozny.
Some 20 people were detained and a large amount of weapons were confiscated during the operation, Colonel Igor Shabalkin, spokesman for the regional operations headquarters in charge of the anti-guerrilla operation in Chechnya, told Interfax on Monday.
The special operation in Chechen-Aul began a week ago and is currently considered one of the most productive operations to have been conducted recently, Shabalkin said. The operation is being conducted at the request of "a group of authoritative residents of Chechen-Aul, who said they want to bring order to the village and stop rebels' lawlessness," he said.