30 Russian Soldiers Killed in Chechnya
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MOSCOW — More than 30 Russian soldiers were killed in a battle with Chechen rebels as the army pursued efforts Friday to cripple the separatists’ fighting forces.
Troops bombarded guerrilla positions across the region. Villagers from Shazhali in the southwest said more than 100 homes were destroyed in the second air raid this week, even though local elders signed a truce with the Russian military.
Interfax news agency quoted military sources as saying that more than 30 soldiers were killed, 67 wounded and 15 missing in fighting Thursday night at Goiskoye, 20 miles south of Grozny.
It was one of the heaviest casualty tolls in a new round of intense combat that broke out a month ago when separatist leader Dzhokar M. Dudayev’s forces attacked the regional capital.
Rebels in Goiskoye were also reported to have shot down a Sukhoi SU-25 fighter-bomber on Thursday with a hand-held Stinger missile made in the United States.
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