Seven Russian soldiers were killed on Saturday in a gun battle after separatist guerrillas used explosives to halt a train carrying Russian armoured vehicles, a top rebel spokesman claimed. The train was bound for the city of Argun, some 10 km east of the capital Grozny, when it hit an explosive device planted by the rebels, Chechen spokesman Movladi Udugov told AFP on telephone. Udugov claimed that seven soldiers were killed in the ensuing gun battle, and ten armored vehicles have been destroyed or overturned.

No independent confirmation of the incident was immediately available. Both the Russians and Chechens have frequently exaggerated the other side's losses in the course of the 13-month war, and their claims are nearly impossible to independently confirm. Bureau Report