Briefs

Security Forces and Militants Battle in Argun

Interfax reported on December 18 that two law-enforcement officers were killed and six wounded in a shootout with militants in the Chechen town of Argun. A source in the Combined Group of Forces in the North Caucasus told the news agency that the gun battle took place after Interior Ministry troops and police blockaded a group of militants in a dwelling in the city and that the building caught fire at the end of the battle. The source said that an Interior Ministry serviceman and a policeman were killed, as were two of the militants.

Four Policemen Wounded in Dagestani Bombings

Two separate bombings targeting police cars in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt on December 17 wounded four policemen, Itar-Tass reported. The first bombing took place as a police patrol car was crossing an engineering bridge not far from the village of Osman-Yurt. One policeman was wounded in that blast. Several minutes later, a second explosion took place when another police car arrived at the scene of the first bombing. The second blast wounded three more policemen.