By YURI BAGROV, Associated Press Writer
VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia - Clashes broke out across Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya ( news - web sites) as the military and Moscow-backed authorities made preparations Saturday for a constitutional referendum to be held in just over a week.
At least five Russian servicemen were killed and 12 wounded in rebel attacks and fighting over the past 24 hours, an official in the Moscow-backed administration in Chechnya said on condition of anonymity.
Two Chechen policemen were also wounded when rebels attacked a police patrol in the village of Gikalo, on the outskirts of the capital Grozny, the official said. The attackers escaped.
Russian artillery pounded suspected rebel targets in the Achkoi-Martan, Shali, Vedeno, Itum-Kale, and Nozhai-Yurt regions of Chechnya, and Russian troops rounded up more than 160 people on suspicion of rebel ties in sweep operations in the Grozny region and across the republic.
Amid the fighting, authorities have been intensifying their preparations for a March 23 referendum, in which Chechens will be asked to vote on a Kremlin-backed proposed constitution that subordinates the republic to Russian federal law.
Officials have accused rebels of planning to thwart the vote. A Friday night fire damaged a polling station in the Shali region, and police suspect arson, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. On Saturday, police were to begin guarding polling stations around the clock, the report said.
Also Saturday, Russia's main electricity company, Unified Energy Systems, announced it had launched repairs on a power line from the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz to Grozny, the Interfax news agency reported. More than 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) of transmission lines have been destroyed in the Chechen conflict, the report said.
Russia has been trying to burnish its image in Chechnya, including withdrawing a small contingent of soldiers, ahead of the referendum. Critics say the constitution cannot replace negotiation with Chechen rebels.
Russian troops have fought two wars in Chechnya in the last decade. The first campaign ended in 1996 when Russian troops pulled out after a failed 20-month campaign. Russian forces returned in 1999 after rebels launched incursions into a neighboring region and after a series of apartment house bombings in Russia that were blamed on rebels.