At least nine federal soldiers were killed Sunday in the rebel republic of Chechnya, Russian officials told news agencies.
Seven people, including five soldiers, were killed when a bomb tore through a cafe in the village of Chiry-Yurt some 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the nominal capital Grozny, according to a Kremlin toll Monday.
Two women waitresses in the cafe were among those killed in the blast, said the office of Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the chief Russian spokesman on Chechnya.
Russian military sources on Sunday said eight people had died in the attack.
Movladi Udugov, a spokesman for rebels close to warlords Shamil Basayev and Khattab, however claimed 14 servicemen had died when 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of TNT exploded.
Meanwhile, federal Russian military sources said Monday that four soldiers had died in separate shooting incidents in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, Interfax reported.
Russian troops came under fire on 17 occasions, the news agency said.
More than a year after tens of thousands of Russian troops poured into the breakaway republic, federal forces come under daily attack from rebels, estimated by President Vladimir Putin last week at less than 1,000.
Separately, seven Chechen refugees, including children, were being treated for burns after a fire in their refugee camp in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia, the RIA Novosti news agency reported -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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