The bodies of three Russian interior ministry servicemen were found early Tuesday in the southern republic of Ingushetia, bordering war-torn Chechnya, a ministry official told Interfax news agency.
The bodies were covered with multiple gunshot and stab wounds and were found near the village of Verkhny Alkun near the Chechen border, the official said.
Police arrested one man for involvement in the murder. Magomed Latyrov, 22, was caught soon after the crime late Monday. Three guns were found in Latyrov's car, RIA Novosti reported quoting the Ingush interior ministry.
Meanwhile, one civilian died and another was injured when a bomb planted by separatist rebels exploded late Monday in Chechnya, the Russian federal command in the republic told Interfax.
Separately, a powerful bomb exploded as a freight train ran along a stretch of track between Gudermes and Kadi-Yurt in the east of the republic late Monday, local police told Interfax.
The train's locomotive caught fire and was seriously damaged but the driver "miraculously managed to pull the train into Gudermes."
There were no casualties reported.
Twenty people were arrested over the past 24 hours throughout the breakaway republic on suspicion of involvement in rebel attacks.
More than 14 months after Russia launched its military intervention in Chechnya on October 1 last year, up to 2,000 rebels continue to harass federal troops on a daily basis, targeting Russian checkpoints, convoys and Chechens collaborating with Moscow.
Attacks against civilians have also increased -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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