18 Troops Killed in Ingushetia Ambush

GALASHKI, Ingushetia -- Rebel gunmen burst out of a wooded ditch Thursday and ambushed a troop convoy in Ingushetia, killing 18 soldiers in the first major attack outside Chechnya in months, the military said.


Federal officials warned that the raid signaled the Chechens' intention to expand their fight to other Russian territories after nine months of war, and urged strengthened police control over regions bordering Chechnya.


The convoy was passing along a wooded, upward-sloping section of road near the village of Galashki, in Ingushetia, when gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons and grenade launchers, said military investigators on the scene.


The convoy's captain, Sergei Maziyev, the only one of the 22 servicemen to escape unharmed, told reporters that he saw some movement in the bushes, then the attack happened too quickly for the soldiers to put up serious resistance.


Sixteen were killed immediately, two died of wounds on the way to the hospital, and three were wounded. The unit had finished its tour and the men were heading home when they were attacked, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Valery Manilov told a news conference.


It was unclear whether any of the attackers were harmed.


Special forces were searching the surrounding hills and woods for the gunmen, and sappers could be seen searching for mines believed to have been left by the attackers. Investigators said seven grenade launchers were left behind in trenches where the gunmen hid before the attack.


The convoy consisted of two trucks, one of them towing a broken-down armored personnel carrier, the investigators said on condition of anonymity.


Ingushetia borders Chechnya and has been the site of occasional crossover attacks by Chechen rebels. The military has a heavy presence in Ingushetia, and the border has been the main crossing for some 200,000 refugees fleeing the fighting in Chechnya.


Chechen rebels have been stepping up ambushes on military convoys in the last two months, killing at least 100 soldiers inside Chechnya. The attacks catch the poorly trained federal units by surprise and cause swift losses before reinforcements can arrive.


Federal officials were convinced the gunmen in Thursday's attack were Chechen rebels.


"This is alarming because it shows that the rebels are aiming to spread the conflict, expand the war zone to neighboring territories,'' said the Kremlin's spokesman on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky.


Shamil Basayev, a leading rebel commander, had recently threatened to expand the war into neighboring regions if Moscow did not withdraw its troops.


Colonel General Gennady Troshev, commander of troops in the region, said the attack confirmed that the rebels are seeping out of Chechnya. He urged police in neighboring republics to step up checks of everyone leaving Chechnya, even refugees.


Troops entered Chechnya after Chechnya-based militants seized villages in Dagestan in August. Moscow says the offensive is aimed at quashing terrorists and the violence that had plagued the region since a 1994-96 war.


Not including Thursday's attack, 2,233 Russian servicemen have been killed since August, the military said Thursday. That did not include unconfirmed rebel attacks, such as one Wednesday in which rebels claimed to have killed 30 soldiers.


Both the military and the rebels exaggerate the other side's losses while playing down their own.


Inside Chechnya, no major attacks were reported Thursday.