NAZRAN. June 22 (Interfax) - At least 46 people were killed in gun- battles in Ingushetia early on Tuesday, after several guerilla units attacked the Ingush communities of Nazran, Karabulak, and Sleptsovskaya, spokesman for the Ingush Interior Ministry Yakhya Khadziyev told Interfax.
"Among those killed are 18 law enforcement officers, mainly from the Interior Ministry, and 28 civilians," Khadziyev said.
Another 30 people sustained wounds of varying degrees, he said.
Two guerillas were also killed in the clashes. Their bodies have been found and taken to Nazran for identification.
Ingush President Murat Zyazikov earlier told Interfax that "there are many casualties among both law enforcement officers and civilians" after the night raids.
Zyazikov said the republic will observe three days of mourning for the victims of the attack starting from Wednesday.
Khadziyev told Interfax it was difficult to estimate the exact number of the attackers, but called "quite likely" the figure of 200 guerillas, which had earlier been cited in media reports.
"Operations are currently underway to determine the ways of the guerillas' retreat, and additional police forces are being engaged to chase them," Khadziyev said.
"The guerillas could be leaving Ingushetia in small groups," and therefore the search operations "are being conducted on quite a large territory," he said.
A crisis center to handle the aftermath of the night raids was organized at the Ingush Interior Ministry on Tuesday morning. Russian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin, chief of the Russian Interior Ministry's department for the Southern Federal District Mikhail Pankov, and Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky are expected to shortly arrive in Nazran.
Fridinsky himself refrained from comments before leaving for Ingushetia, saying only that he intended to personally look into the situation after the night attack.
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