Four police officers and three guerrillas were killed Sunday in two separate shootouts in the Russian republic of Chechnya, Russian news agencies reported on Monday.

Three policemen, from local and federal departments, were shot dead in gunbattle broke out after their confrontation with six gunmen in the village of Khatuni of southeastern Chechnya's Vedeno region, Itar-Tass said, citing a spokesperson of the Chechen Interior Ministry. Another four police officers were wounded.

Three gunmen, suspected to be members of Supyan Abdulayev's group, were also killed in the shootout. A sniper rifle and two Kalashnikov submachine-guns were seized in the house and police have arrested its owner, according to the report.

In a separate clash in southern Shali district, a police officer were shot dead during a special operation to detain a wanted 30-year-old resident in a forest village, Itar-Tass said.

Although Moscow has repeatedly declared victory over the rebels, they continued to fight Moscow-backed Chechnya government, inflicting casualties on Russian forces with booby-traps and remote-detonated explosive.

The past 12 years have seen Russian forces fighting two wars to quell the violent separatist rebellions in Chechnya. An estimated 100,000 of Chechnya's 1 million people and some 10,000 Russian servicemen have been killed in the conflict, according to official figures.

Source: Xinhua