Troops repel Chechen offensive
From CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- After several hours of heavy fighting, Russian interior ministry troops were able to repel rebel attempts to seize government buildings in attacks on at least three towns in the southern region of Ingushetia, according to an official from the Ingush presidential office.
The official told CNN the attacks appeared to be coordinated and hit three Ingush towns: Nazran, Karabulak, and Sleptsovsk.
The official said heavy fighting took place all over the central part of Nazran where rebels laid seige to several government buildings, including the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the headquarters of the Border Guards.
Ammunition depots were burning and communication with the Interior Ministry headquarters was cut off for several hours.
The Press Service for the North Caucasus Border Guards confirmed to CNN that, after three hours of heavy fighting, troops were able to prevent rebels from seizing the Border Guard headquarters in Nazran. The building was heavily damaged.
A civilian reached by CNN who lives about five kilometers (three miles) outside of Nazran said residents there began hearing explosions and gunfire at approximately 11pm local time.
There were reports of rebel, police and civilian casualties, but there has been no confirmation of numbers.
The acting Ingush Interior Minister was presumed dead, according to the presidential office spokesman.
The attacks are believed to be part of a new offensive by Chechen rebels.
Separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov just last week warned that his fighters were preparing to shift from acts of sabotage to military action, including outside of Chechnya's borders.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, travelling in Russia's Far East, told reporters that he did not have detailed information about events unfolding in Ingushetia but said "there are sufficient forces in the region to stop such attacks."
Ingushetia comprises roughly the western fifth of the former Chechen-Ingush Republic. After Chechnya declared independence in 1991, Ingushetia gained de facto separate status as a republic.
The fighting in Chechnya has occasionally spilled over into Ingushetia.
-- CNN Correspondent Ryan Chilcote contributed to this report.
