One killed, one injured in landmine explosion near Serzhen-Yurt
Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus - A landmine explosion killed Akhmed Suleymanov and severely injured Aslan Bedigov, residents of the Serzhen-Yurt settlement, southeast of the Chechen capital Grozny, when they were preparing wood outside the village at the place of a former location of Russian forces. Aslan Bedigov, having sustained numerous shrapnel wounds, was taken by his neighbours to the district hospital in Shali.
Since the beginning of the second campaign in Chechnya, more than 10 Serzhen-Yurt residents have been killed or mutilated in explosions of landmines and booby-traps. Last year, such blasts claimed the lives of 46-year-old Saipi Saidulayev and his elder brother Sultan when they were looking for their nephew whose body was found near the former location of Russian forces a few months later.
Another landmine explosion killed Mr Eskerchanov, 26, a machine-operator of a local state-run farm. Similarly, Imran Yandayev and Ali Galbatsov, were killed in the outskirts of Serzhen-Yurt. Moreover, at least six more villagers have sustained shrapnel wounds. One of them, Khalid Mutsurov, became disabled as a result of a mortar-shelling by Russian forces.
As Serzhen-Yurt gets no gas supplies, local houses are heated with wood from trees outside the village. However, the woods close to the village, situated near the opening to the Vedeno gorge, are teeming with Russian soldiers who repeatedly shell the location. That makes collecting wood considerably risky for local people.
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