FRESH LOSSES IN CHECHNYA

Nine men, including four staff-members of the Gudermes military commandant's office and five servicemen of the Chechen special-purpose militia squadron (OMON), were killed on Sunday in a battle against separatists for the central hospital of Gudermes. As RIA Novosti was told at the prosecutor's office of Chechnya at about 15:10, Moscow time, a group of terrorists made an attempt to capture the city’s Central Hospital No.1. The bandits penetrated the auxiliary premise near the main building and opened fire at the hospital. The servicemen and staff-members of the military commandant's office, who guarded the hospital, opened return fire. The battle continued until dark. Additional forces arrived to help those who guarded the hospital but the bandits, as usual, succeeded to escape under cover of darkness. The patients in the hospital did not suffer, according to the prosecutor's office. The auxiliary premise where the bandits hid themselves has been completely destroyed. No damage has been inflicted to the hospital itself.