Chechen ambush kills 12 - report

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- At least 12 people have been killed in an attack by Chechen rebels on a Russian military convoy, according to Interfax news agency.

The ambush took place on Tuesday night near the market village of Oktyabrskoye, in eastern Chechnya.

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At least two more Russians were killed in separate incidents in other parts of the region.

In the Oktyabrskoye attack a booby-trapped car exploded as a Russian armoured personel carrier and two military vehicles drove past. Rebels hidden nearby then opened fire with guns on the survivors.

Four Russian servicemen, two employees of the local military comandant's office and six civilians were reported killed. Four other cilivilans and two policemen were injured.

A spokesman in the office of Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Kremlin official responsible for Chechnya, was unable to confirm reports of the attack.

In the other incidents one Russian policeman was killed and two wounded when a checkpoint they were manning in Tsa-Vedeno, in southern Chechnya, came under rebel fire.

Another policeman was killed and a colleague wounded when rebels opened fire on their position in the village of Makhkety.

According to Interfax both incidents happened at the same time and are being treated by the Russian military as part of a "co-ordinated action."

The ambush is the latest and bloodiest in a series of rebel attacks on Russian troops, who occupied the region in 1999.

The Kremlin claims that it has broken the back of Chechen resistence, leaving rebels fragmented and incapable of launching large-scale military actions.

Despite this rebel Chechens have been claiming Russian lives on an almost daily basis.