General killed in Chechen ambush

Russian soldiers continue to suffer heavy losses

Gunmen have shot dead a Russian army general in the capital of the war-torn region of Chechnya.

Lieutenant-General Igor Shifrin, who headed the army's Chief Special Construction Directorate, was fatally wounded when his and another vehicle were fired upon on Friday.

Federal Security Service (FSB) agents accompanying him were not hurt in the attack in Grozny's Oktyabrski district.

The attack came on the same day Moscow installed a new regional prime minister for Chechnya.

Kadyrov remains Moscow's top official in Chechnya

Mikhail Babich, a 33-year-old former deputy governor from the central Russian region of Ivanovo, replaces Stanislas Ilyasov who has become the federal minister for Chechen affairs.

Mr Babich will, like his predecessor, officially work as deputy to the head of the pro-Moscow administration, ethnic Chechen Akhmad Kadyrov.

On taking up his appointment, he commended the outgoing premier for achieving "stability in society and stability in the socio-economic sphere" and would build upon it.

But the past week saw continuing rebel attacks and military operations in and around Chechnya, culminating in the death of the general on Friday:

• On Wednesday, two local drivers for the Red Cross were abducted at gunpoint in Chechnya. Nothing is yet known of their fate.

• On Thursday, local officials reported the death of three Russian soldiers in fighting in Chechnya's Kurchaloy district and the FSB reported killing two Chechen rebels near Grozny.

• Also on Thursday, three women and a man were killed and nine wounded on a bus in the neighbouring Ingushetia region when pro-Moscow Chechen police reportedly tried to seize two of the passengers.