Rebel attacks killed five Russian soldiers and two policemen in Chechnya over the past day, an official in the Kremlin-backed administration in the warring republic said Thursday. Three of the soldiers died and 10 were wounded in attacks on Russian military positions, the official said on condition of anonymity. Two other soldiers were killed when a military truck was blown up near the village of Nozhai-Yurt and two policemen died when assailants opened fire in the Chechen capital Grozny, he said. Russian forces withdrew from Chechnya in 1996 after a disastrous 20-month war against separatists ended in a stalemate, leaving the republic de-facto independent and largely lawless. The Russian army swept in again in September 1999 after Chechnya-based fighters launched incursions into neighboring Dagestan and after the deaths of some 300 people in apartment bombings blamed on the separatists. (AP)