Latest fighting in Chechnya leaves 10 Russian soldiers dead

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- Recent fighting between government troops and rebels in Chechnya has killed 10 Russian soldiers, an official said Sunday.

The Kremlin insists the war in Chechnya is over, with rebels defeated, but Russia loses soldiers daily in the southern province in small-scale attacks.

Rebels attacked Russian checkpoints 12 times during Saturday and Sunday, killing four soldiers and injuring six, an official in the Kremlin-backed Chechen administration said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Troops clashed with rebels in the capital, Grozny, killing two soldiers and injuring one. Two other attacks on military vehicles killed four soldiers and injured one.

The official also said that more than 160 suspects were detained in the previous 24 hours in Russian sweep operations, in which troops search for rebel sympathizers among the civilian population.

Rebels forced Russian troops out of Chechnya after a 1994-96 war. Soldiers returned in 1999 after rebels raided a neighboring Russian region and were blamed for a series of apartment explosions.