At least six insurgents and five Russian troops have been killed in gun battles in Chechnya, authorities in the war-scarred Russian province said Friday. Five or six federal servicemen were killed in fighting that began on Thursday and persisted on Friday in forested mountains southwest of the capital, Grozny, a law enforcement official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Moscow-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's office said six insurgents were killed Thursday in separate fighting. Violence has escalated over the past year in Chechnya, undermining a recovery in the mostly Muslim region following two devastating 1990s wars pitting government forces against separatist rebels. Kadyrov has expressed confidence that the insurgents will soon be destroyed and has even announced plans to build a ski resort once they are eliminated.
