Two Chechens were killed Sunday when a bomb accidentally exploded in Dagestan, while the Russian military confirmed it had killed 22 rebels in the neighboring republic of Chechnya itself, Russian news agencies said.
The explosion, which occurred in the Khasavyurt area, near the Chechen border, was ostensibly the result of a mishandling of the bomb by the two Chechens, aged 18 and 20, RIA Novosti cited the Dagestani interior ministry saying.
Meanwhile Russian forces killed 20 separatist rebels on the second day of a special operation in the mountainous districts of Vedeno, Nozhai-Yurt and Nizhny Kurchaloi, in southwestern Chechnya, Russia's military command in the north Caucasus told the agency.
Two Chechen fighters were also killed in a shootout with Russian troops near Bamut, 45 kilometers (27 miles) west of the nominal capital Grozny, Interfax cited the federal military saying.
Russian planes had undertaken around 30 bombing sorties in the past 28 hours across southern Chechnya, where they had destroyed three rebel bases, a federal spokesman told the AVN military news agency.
More than 20,000 people in southwest Chechnya were left without gas after a rebel mine damaged a main supply line between Sharoi and Achkoi-Martan, AVN reported -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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