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MOSCOW: Chechen rebels killed a Russian interior ministry soldier and a policemen was wounded in overnight clashes, Itar-Tass news agency said on Sunday.

A Russian forces spokesman told Tass interior ministry forces had come under fire five times in the past 24 hours.

Rebels fired on a traffic police post near the village of Raduzhnoye, 10 km (six miles) northwest of the capital Grozny, wounding one officer. Russian forces detained two rebels.

A temporary holding prison in Grozny, guarded by police, also came under intensive fire early on Sunday.

One Russian army soldier was wounded by a mine, the spokesman said.

Under a military accord, signed in Grozny a week ago, the rebels agreed to lay down most of their arms in exchange for withdrawal of most Russian troops from Chechnya.

Moscow, which sent thousands of troops into Chechnya last December to crush its bid for independence, has agreed to scale its forces down to two 1,000-strong brigades.-Reuter