Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service, said explosive components recovered in the raid in troubled Ingushetia province, located west of Chechnya, and DNA taken from the alleged rebels matched those found after the attack on the Nevsky Express train, which left 28 people dead. The group is also suspected in 15 other attacks.

Bortnikov said 10 militants were detained and eight killed in the operation Tuesday and Wednesday in the village of Ekazhevo. Among those killed, he said, was Alexander Tikhomirov, a young preacher who had emerged as a major figure in the violent radical Muslim insurgency that has evolved from the Chechen separatist movement and spread across the mountains of Russia’s southwestern frontier.

Tikhomirov’s death could mark a key victory for Russian forces in the North Caucasus.

– Philip P. Pan

PHILIPPINES

Communist rebels ambush troops, kill 11

Communist rebels ambushed a Philippine army platoon south of Manila on Saturday, killing at least 11 soldiers and wounding seven others in one of the military’s largest recent losses, an army spokesman said.

The rebels have about 4,000 fighters, down from about 25,000 in the mid-1980s, according to military estimates. They have been waging a 41-year rural-based insurgency that has triggered human rights abuses and stunted economic development.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to crush the insurgency by the end of her term in June.

– Associated Press

Mediator cites modest warming in Colombia-Venezuela ties: Colombia and Venezuela are making progress in negotiations to end a diplomatic dispute that has battered trade and unnerved the Andean region, said the president of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández, who is brokering ministerial-level talks. The Andean neighbors are at odds over a Colombian plan to allow U.S. troops more access to its military bases.

Early results show win for Togo’s president: Togo President Faure Gnassingbé won a new term as leader of the West African state, preliminary results showed Saturday, after an election whose credibility was questioned by rivals. Gnassingbé’s victory in a 2005 poll sparked protests and a security crackdown in which hundreds were killed. International observers said the election went smoothly this time but cited some procedural flaws.

– From news services