Rostov-on-Don (Russia), Aug 08: Unidentified gunmen ambushed a Russian military convoy traveling near the border with Chechnya, killing six soldiers and wounding seven, the Russian military said today. The convoy came under automatic gunfire yesterday evening near the village of Alkhasty, in the Republic of Ingushetia which borders Chechnya to the west, a duty officer at the northern Caucasus military command center said. The band of approximately 30 gunmen slipped back into the woods after the attack.

Fighting from the nearly four-year-old war in Chechnya occasionally spills into Ingushetia, particularly near its border with Chechnya. On July 29, a land mine explosion shattered a military convoy in Ingushetia, killing five soldiers. Last October, about 200 Chechen rebels fought with Russian troops in Ingushetia in one of the biggest clashes of the war, shooting down a Russian helicopter and killing 17 soldiers.

Russia's Interfax news agency said the convoy came under attack yesterday as it was returning to its base in Ingushetia after escorting another convoy to the Chechen border. The Itar-Tass news agency said that the convoy had been returning to its regular base from the Chechen capital, Grozny.

Bureau Report