POLICEMEN, GUNMEN KILLED IN SHOOT-OUT IN DAGESTAN.

Two policemen and three others were killed on the night of April 18-19 in the Novolaksk district of Dagestan close to the border with Chechnya. When police stopped a car at a checkpoint and demanded to see the passengers’ documents, the passengers opened fire. Two policemen and three of the gunmen were killed. One gunman was found to have been carrying a passport in the name of a resident of Argun, in the Chechen Republic, while two of the others had papers identifying them as agents of Chechnya’s Shariah Security Service. (NTV, ORT, RTR, April 19)

MASKHADOV DENIES CHECHEN PARTICIPATION IN AMBUSH ON MILITARY CONVOY.