Russia: Six suspected militants, 6 soldiers killed in a firefight in Chechnya

Six suspected militants and six soldiers were killed in a firefight in the volatile North Caucus region, confirmed Russian authorities.The National Anti-terrorism Committee said in a statement Friday that armed militants, including two with suicide belts, tried to break into a National Guard base in Chechnya in the early hours of the morning.

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The National Guard, a powerful new security agency created last year by President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement that the attack took place in heavy fog.

The Kremlin has relied on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to stabilize the situation in the mainly Muslin region in the wake of two bloody separatist wars that followed the fall of the Soviet Union.