31.   At least six Tajik interior ministry troops and seven gunmen were killed in a clash northeast of the Tajik capital Dushanbe, Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

32.   But for the next days no pullout of interior ministry troops which make up the bulk of Russian forces in Chechnya has been scheduled, the spokesman added.

33.   But Russian interior ministry troops largely run free, lounging in headbands and sunglasses on their tanks and APCs.

34.   Chechen fighters attacked Russian interior ministry troops in the morning, but were wiped out following air-strikes and the arrival of reinforcements, the news agency said.

35.   Dagestani Deputy Interior Minister Gennady Shpigun said two Dagestani interior ministry troops were killed and two wounded in the fighting at Sovetskoye.

36.   Elite interior ministry troops took up positions outside the presidential palace in the capital of this former Soviet republic.

37.   Elite interior ministry troops and special forces surrounded the building.

38.   The Russian armed forces, which do not include the interior ministry troops, desperately needs the reforms to shake up its overmanned, underpaid and undertrained ranks.

39.   The Russian military command in Chechnya also said four interior ministry troops and four federal army troops were wounded in overnight attacks by Chechen fighters.

40.   The official said that several hundred interior ministry troops had been placed on reserve for the anti-rebel operation, expected to end in April.