VLADIKAVKAZ, April 4: Four Russian soldiers died and 14 were wounded in attacks and land mine explosions across Chechnya over the previous day, an official in Chechnya's Moscow-backed government said on Sunday.
Rebels fired on Russian military positions 22 times in the previous 24 hours, killing three servicemen and wounding 11 others, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A Russian sapper was killed while attempting to defuse a land mine on a road near the village of Gikalo in the Grozny suburbs on Saturday. Three more servicemen were wounded when their car hit a mine near the village of Samashki in the Achkhoi-Martan district, the official said.
Two Chechen police offices were also killed when unknown attackers opened fire on them in the capital, Grozny.
ANNAN IN MOSCOW: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Russia on Sunday for a three-day visit focusing on the war in Iraq and unrest in Kosovo, amid efforts by Moscow to raise the United Nations' profile in resolving both conflicts.
Mr Annan was due on Monday to meet President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, newly-appointed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and officials from the two houses of the Russian parliament, ITAR-TASS news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying. -Agencies
