Eight servicemen and three policemen die in explosion

Eight servicemen and three policemen died in an explosion in Chechnya, reports a source in the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus.

"In the morning of May 17, the Interior Troops and policemen were making an engineering inspection at the settlement of Alkhan-Yurt (Urus-Martan district of the mountain part of Chechnya)" when one policeman was wounded in a minor explosion.

When an investigation group of policemen and Interior Troops arrived in the area some time later, they saw two persons and hurried after them by a cart track. This is when their BTR-80 armoured personnel carrier blew up on a mine. "As a result, three policemen and eight servicemen died; the APC burned out," said the source.