Shoot-out leaves eight Chechen rebels dead: Russian military

Moscow, Jun 02: Eight Chechen separatist rebels were killed in a shoot-out with Russian troops today, army sources said, raising the death toll in a drawn-out war that Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted is over.

No federal soldiers were killed in the early morning
shoot-out outside a rebel base in the mountains near the
southern village of Shali, said Nikolai Berzeitis, an official
with the Caucasus general staff, quoted by Itar-Tass.

Last week alone, Russian soldiers killed 18 separatist
rebels, including three Arab fighters, a military source said.

The source said five federal soldiers had also been
killed last week.

Putin said the separatist conflict, raging since October
1999, was over after Chechens adopted a new constitution in
march sealing the southern republic's place in the Russian
federation.

But rebel fighters in the mainly Muslim republic have
been following through on a pledge to step up attacks to
disrupt the results of the poll, killing over 80 people in
attacks in may.