MOSCOW (AFP) -- Three policemen were killed overnight Sunday to Monday in Russia's war-ravaged southern region of Chechnya, Russian news agencies reported.

""Unknown assailants shot to death three policemen who had been guarding residential trailers on the outskirts of the village of Naurskaya,"" in northwest Chechnya, a military official told the Interfax news agency.
The killers took two automatic rifles, two handguns and ammunition from the dead policemen, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing a police source.
Chechen separatists have fought two wars for independence from Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Guerrilla attacks remain frequent despite the end of major fighting in the latest conflict, which began in 1999.