CAPE KLERK, Russian Far East. June 22 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that a field hospital has been set up in Nazran to treat people injured during last night's armed clash with guerillas who entered Ingushetia.
"The exact number of injured is being established," Ivanov told journalists on Tuesday.
The defense minister is visiting the Pacific Fleet's training area, the venue for a stage of the Mobility-2004 military exercises.
The building that houses the Ingush Interior Ministry was attacked, he said.
"I do not see any need for using troops in Ingushetia," Ivanov said. He added that Defense Ministry units from the North Caucasus Military District are deployed in Nazran.
The Mobility-2004 exercises are "an element for preparing the Russian armed forces to fight international terrorism, including in the North Caucasus," he said.
"All the servicemen from standby divisions who have been airlifted to the Far East (for the exercises - Interfax) have a track record of serving in Chechnya and other hot spots. They have actual battlefield experience. The other thing is that they have to operate in an unfamiliar area and use military hardware belonging to troops stationed in the Far East," Ivanov said.
"As far as the North Caucasus is concerned, the North Caucasus Military District has the largest number of troops, and is the most combat-capable of all the country's military districts. However, today it is not operating as vigorously as it used to," the minister said.