A group of servicemen from the Vostok battalion were ambushed during a search-and-destroy operation in a forested area Monday afternoon.
Three soldiers were killed in the ensuing firefight, and another died in a grenade blast trying to capture militant leader Ali Tsakalayev, who blew himself up rather than surrender.
Soldiers are continuing to search the area for the remaining members of the group, which reportedly numbered 10 militants.
Although the active phase of the North Caucasus antiterrorism campaign officially ended in 2001, periodic bombings and clashes between gunmen and federal troops still disrupt Chechnya and nearby regions, including Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachayevo-Circassia.
A partial amnesty for militants not involved in major atrocities during Russia's antiterrorism campaign in the North Caucasus was announced by Russian authorities July 15, 2006, following the killing of the region's most sought after terrorist, Shamil Basayev.
Colonel General Arkady Yedelev, a deputy interior minister, said on January 23 that 554 militants had given themselves up in the Republic of Chechnya since the amnesty announcement.
But the commander of Russia's Joint Forces in the North Caucasus, Colonel General Yevgeny Baryayev, earlier said about 700 gunmen still continued to operate in Chechnya and neighboring regions.
