61.   The last fighting came at a time government officials have begun talks with some separatist leaders on how to end the insurgency.

62.   The latest fighting came one week after President Boris Yeltsin announced his peace plan for Chechnya and said Russian troops would fire only if attacked.

63.   The latest fighting came only six days before the warring Islamic factions are to form a multiparty governing council that will assume power from President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

64.   The latest fighting came with a heavy toll, the United Nations said, citing a new mass exodus of refugees from the region.

65.   The latest fighting comes amid news that a former warlord Alhaji Kromah was expelled from his own political party after he claimed links to the rebels.

66.   The latest fighting comes less that two weeks after a prolonged gun battle in the same area killed five people.

67.   The latest fighting came in the village of Dura, which was the hometown of three Palestinian workers slain Tuesday night at an Israeli military checkpoint.

68.   The most serious fighting came over a four-day period earlier this week.

69.   The new fighting came as other fighters gathered outside the capital for possible new attacks and refugees died from cholera or weakened from hunger as violence blocked aid shipments.

70.   The new fighting came despite the month-old truce.