Two police, two rebels killed in Chechnya clash

Two police officers and two suspected Islamist rebels were killed in a clash early Sunday in Chechnya, Russian investigators said in a statement.

The clash took place near Gudermes, east of the capital Grozny, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

One police officer was a lieutenant-colonel, and the other was a lieutenant, the statement said.

Chechnya has remained largely peaceful since waging two post-Soviet wars against federal forces that claimed tens of thousands of lives and saw hundreds of thousands flee Grozny.

Most of the fighting in the restive Caucasus is now concentrated in the neighbouring republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia, where Moscow is battling a simmering insurgency that sees regular attacks that officials blame on militants seeking to establish an Islamic state across the region.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.