Chechen mayor shot dead

Russia's military campaign in Chechnya has prompted demonstrations

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- A mayor has been shot dead after armed men burst into his family home in Chechnya, an official said.

Lukman Madalov and his wife, Zoya, were attacked on Monday in the town of Valerik in the southwest of the capital Grozny. Mrs Madalov, a school head, was seriously wounded.

The killing is the latest among Chechen officials who have sided with the Russian forces battling rebel guerrillas, who have targeted such officials as traitors.

The allegiances of the attackers in this instance remained unclear, however.

Law enforcement officials launched an investigation, according to an official in the pro-Moscow civilian administration.

Russian officials planned to distribute firearms to local village officials in especially dangerous areas, the official said, even though weapons are already widely available in the region.

The shooting came a day after two journalists from the newspaper Severny Kavkaz were wounded by an explosive device in a ruined apartment building in Grozny, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Across Chechnya, nine Russian servicemen and local police were killed and at least 16 wounded in rebel attacks over the preceding 24 hours, the official said on Monday morning.

One soldier died when an armoured vehicle hit a mine in Argun, east of Grozny, while two officers from the local police force were killed when their vehicle was blown up in the town of Gekhi-Chu, southwest of Grozny.

Chechen fighters drove out Russian troops in a 1994-96 war, and seized de facto independence.

But Moscow's forces returned after rebels attacked villages in a neighbouring Russian region and after apartment bombings blamed on Chechens killed about 300 people.