Ossetian policeman, wounded in assault on checkpoint, gets leg cut off

22-year old senior sergeant of the North Ossetian interior guard regiment Alan Shavlokhov, who was wounded in an assault on a checkpoint on the administrative border between Ingushetia and North Ossetia (both republics bordering on Chechnya), has got his leg amputated.

This was disclosed to RIA Novosti in the central clinical hospital, where Shavlokhov along with a serviceman of his regiment, Andrei Valgasov, were put in last night. They both were injured when the concrete part of the checkpoint collapsed under fire. Valgasov got away with light injuries, while Shavlokhov got his right leg bones shattered.

Investigators have almost finished their work on the spot. They stick to the version that the outpost was fired at with anti-tank missiles. This can be confirmed by the fact that the missiles flew almost soundless, the investigators from the Interior Ministry were quoted by a RIA Novosti correspondent.

It has been specified that 2 missiles were fired at the outpost from a distance of 1 km from the direction of Ingushetia. One of the missiles flew over the post, the other one hit its corner, where the Ossetian policemen were.

So far the investigators have forwarded no official versions, concerning the masterminds and perpetrators of the action, but at the same time they do not rule out the "Chechen trail."