Gunbattle on outskirts of Chechen capital

Government officials in Chechnya said about one-hundred men, armed with machine-guns and grenade launchers, attacked the headquarters of the government's anti-kidnapping unit on the outskirts of the capital, Grozny.

The head of the unit Khunkar Pasha Israpilov said the gunmen were trying to rescue four of their colleagues who had been captured earlier.

The gunbattle lasted about half-an-hour.

Several people were wounded and three of the attackers arrested.

A Russian government delegation led by the Security Council Secretary, Ivan Rybkin has arrived in Chechnya to discuss how to improve relations between the two governments and the re-building of the Chechen economy.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service