Gunmen attack Grozny checkpoint, 6 injured

Grozny (Russia), April 19: Gunmen injured six Russian policemen during a night attack on a checkpoint on the outskirts of the Chechen capital, Grozny, an interior ministry spokesman said today.

Chechen rebels and Russian forces have fought two wars in the southern Russian republic since 1994. The Kremlin has poured millions of dollars into reconstructing the destroyed province and now wants to present the war as over.

''As a result of a night attack, six policemen from Karelia were injured yesterday,'' the spokesman said. Karelia is a republic in the northwest of Russia, bordering Finland.

The attackers were not identified. The spokesman declined to say if police suspected rebels or criminals had launched the attack.

Sporadic fighting between Russian forces and rebels continues, although it is mainly confined to the mountainous southern areas of Chechnya.

Reuters