GROZNY. May 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Four Chechen rebels were killed in a clash between a guerilla unit and Russian federal forces in a mountainous area in southeastern Chechnya.
A military reconnaissance unit discovered a 10-strong guerilla force in the Baisultan Gorge in the Nozhai-Yurt district, the Russian Interior Ministry's temporary press center in the North Caucasus told Interfax on Monday. Policemen and federal forces sent to the region managed to block the guerillas, who refused to surrender and opened fire.
"In the course of the battle, the policemen and scouts fully suppressed the rebels' resistance and killed four of them," said a press center source.
The rest of the guerillas managed to escape into broken terrain, but an operation to locate and detain them continues, the source said. Four Kalashnikov assault rifles were found at the scene.
The servicemen who took part in the operation do not doubt that the remaining guerillas will also be killed or captured, the press service said.
The Interior Ministry troops and police have seized four Kalashnikov assault rifles, 18 handguns, a grenade launcher, and a large number of grenades, projectiles, mines and explosives in the past 24 hours. They also confiscated dozens of tonnes of bootleg oil products.