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Bomb kills 10, wounds 25 near Chechnya

MOSCOW: Ten people were killed and 25 wounded on Friday when a bomb hit a village just outside the rebel region of Chechnya, Itar-Tass news agency said quoting a local official.

Valentin Volvach, chief prosecutor of the neighbouring region of Ingushetia, told Tass the bomb hit the village of Arshty, no more than five km (three miles) from the rebel stronghold of Bamut in Chechnya itself. Other reports said Bamut was bombed and shelled by Russian forces on Friday.

The Ingushis are ethnic kin of the Chechens and military actions have several times spilled over from Chechnya into Ingushetia during 16 months of bloody fighting.

Early this year Arshty came under a rocket attack from helicopters in which several people were wounded but the Russian military denied it was their assault.

Tass said Arshty housed 2,000 local citizens and an equal number of refugees from Chechnya.-Reuter