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Shooting heard again in southern Russian city

Shooting broke out yesterday morning in three districts of the southern Russian city of Nalchik, as police and security forces said they were launching special operations to detain suspected militants.

Alleged Islamic extremists conducted a coordinated series of attacks on police and other government buildings in the city last Thursday, and some 137 people were killed in the fighting, according to official data.

Local television urged city residents not to leave their homes if possible, and the local schools administration advised parents to take their children home from schools and nursery schools.

Shooting was heard in the suburb of Dubki, where the city's main morgue is located and where security forces were conducting a sweep for suspected rebels, Luiza Orazayeva, an activist with the Memorial rights organization, said. An Associated Press reporter also heard gunfire on the southwestern edge of town and in the city center, near police precinct No. 3.

Police cordoned off streets blocks away from the precinct, and allowed neither cars nor pedestrians to enter the zone. Armored personnel carriers were parked in the streets, and there was a strong smell of smoke, though the source was unclear.

The Interfax news agency reported that police killed a man early yesterday when he allegedly put up resistance during a document check. Two other men who resisted managed to escape.

Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, claimed he was behind last week's attacks in Nalchik, according to a Chechen rebel-connected Web site.
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