Chechen rebels kill 9 soldiers
From CNN's Ryan Chilcote
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MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A group of up to 30 Chechen rebels crossed into the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan -- Chechnya's neighbor to the east -- and killed nine Russian soldiers in a battle, a senior Russian official tells CNN.
The well-armed rebels then seized a hospital in the remote Dagestani village of Shaury, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the nearest town -- where they took four hostages.
The rebels were believed to be retreating with them to Chechnya or the neighboring country of Georgia, just 15 kilometers (8 miles) away.
Press reports said they were traveling in two all-terrain vehicles and a truck.
Russian officials said, judging from their beards, the rebels appear to be followers of the Wahhabite school of Islam. There was no independent confirmation of their identities.
Russian officials often characterize the conflict with Chechen rebels as a fight against fundamentalist Islamic militants, as opposed to a separatist struggle.
Chechen militants are fighting for a breakaway Muslim republic in Chechnya.
Some Russian officials have suggested that the rebels may have come from Georgia, on Russia's southern border. Russian officials have long claimed that Chechen rebels use Georgia as a refuge, a place to rest and obtain medical treatment.
It is in the interest of Russian officials to say the rebels were from Georgia and not Chechnya, since Russia is supposed to be in control of Chechnya.
A senior Georgian official said the attackers did not come from Georgia and did not return there.
The official said they appeared to be near Georgia, but he said Russian border guards had assured him that they would not allow them to get to Georgia.
The official pointed out that Georgia has done a lot to reduce the number of Chechen rebels in its territory.
The United States has posted about two dozen marines in Georgia, where they have been training four battalions of the Georgian army in counterterrorism tactics, he said.
Over the past two years, under pressure from the United States and Russia, Georgia has dramatically reduced the number of Chechen rebels in the Pankisi Gorge, in northern Georgia, said a senior U.S. official.
