Chechnya blast kills troops

The winter's fighting has forced many from Chechnya to refugee camps

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- Seven Russian soldiers have died in an explosion in Chechnya in one of the worst attacks in recent months.

A remote-controlled mine was set off on Friday as a truck carrying Russian troops passed by in Makhachkala, the regional capital of Dagestan, a Russian republic bordering Chechnya.

Four servicemen died on the scene and three died in the hospital, the Associated Press reported. Another three were injured, RTR television said.

"This is an attempt to destabilise the social-political situation in the republic," Dagestan police spokesman Abdul Musayev said on TV6 television.

"The terrorists who have been pushed out of Chechnya by federal forces are trying to move the conflict into the neighbouring regions."

Chechen-based rebels raided villages in Dagestan in August 1999. Those attacks, along with apartment-house bombings in Russian cities that killed more than 300, prompted Moscow to send troops back to Chechnya.

The 1994-96 war had ended in de facto independence for the region.

Despite Friday's attack in Dagestan and daily Russian casualties in Chechnya, a top Russian general said Saturday he was confident the war was coming to an end.

"The rebels' situation in Chechnya can now be compared to the situation of a wounded animal that has been driven into a corner," said Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of the General Staff of the armed forces, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

Meanwhile, Russian aviation bombed rebel bases in the Nozhai-Yurt district, and artillery pounded targets in Nozhai-Yurt, Vedeno and the Itum-Kale districts, an official in Chechnya's Moscow-appointed administration said.

Rebels fired on Russian positions 17 times in the past 24 hours, killing four and wounding four others, the official told AP.

One police officer was killed and three wounded Friday when their patrol was ambushed in Grozny, the regional capital, the official said. One serviceman was killed and four wounded when their truck came under rebel fire near the village of Tsai-Vedeno.

Two servicemen were killed when their vehicle hit a mine in the Urus-Martan district, the official said.

The military detained 86 people on suspicion of participating in rebel formations during security sweeps in Grozny, Argun, Shali and Vedeno, the official said.

Ten days ago a Russian army and police unit was attacked by Chechen separatists, prompting fierce fighting in the Chechen town of Argun.

Reports from the mainly-Muslim region in the North Caucasus differ widely on both sides.

Russian troops returned in October 1999 to restore order after pulling out in defeat in a 1994-96 war which left Chechnya with de facto independence.

Russian troops now claim control of all of the province, though almost daily attacks have taken the death toll among servicemen to over 3,000.

The crisis has defied a political solution despite a first contact in November between Kremlin and rebel envoys.