Reacting to fighting that left at least 14 Russian soldiers dead and a helicopter shot down near his country's southern border with Georgia, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov again said that Moscow would not hesitate to bomb the neighbouring state if the "terrorists" crossed into its territory. Speaking in Warsaw, he also confirmed that two Russians had been killed, among a total of 14 dead, when a military helicopter was shot down during the fighting, which earlier reports situated in Ingushetia, a Caucasian republic bordering both Georgia and Chechnya.

The fierce clashes which erupted before dawn drove hundreds of civilians to flee Galashki, in a mountainous Ingushetia border area, causing many casualties, including civilians.

"We have victims, a helicopter with two on board was shot down. In total we have lost 14 soldiers, more than 40 people on the side of the Chechen fighters have been killed", Ivanov said.

Military sources told Russia's ORT state television that up to 20 Russian troops had been killed.

"We have taken several prisoners," Ivanov told a news conference in Warsaw at the end of his two-day visit to Poland, during which he met NATO defence ministers.

Asked whether Russia planned to bomb Georgian territory Ivanov replied: "If the terrorists cross or try to cross the Russian border, we will not wait until they commit terrorist acts.

"Any civilized country would do the same."

On Wednesday US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Washington was opposed to any move by Russia to bomb Georgia in a bid to stop Chechen fighters using the country's territory to mount raids against its troops.

"The United States position is that it's important that Georgia's sovereignty be respected", Rumsfeld said after NATO ministers met Ivanov.

"We do not favour bombing in that area".

Ivanov stressed that Russia, a member of the United Nations, would act within the confines of international law.

"We do not covet Georgian territory, nor Georgia's sovereignty. The only thing we want is to get security guarantees so that these kind of things do not happen again."

Moscow has accused Tbilisi of turning a blind eye to Chechen fighters allegedly using Georgian territory, particularly the lawless Pankisi Gorge region bordering breakaway Chechnya, as a rear base for raids against Russian troops.

Russia has threatened to launch a military operation into the gorge.

Moscow has been trying for almost three years to quell the separatist insurgency in Chechnya, in what it has described as an anti-terrorist operation.

Ivanov charged that some personalities in Georgian political life had "links with terrorists", and compared the situation to Afghanistan.

"The situation in this country resembles more and more that in Afghanistan one or two years ago when (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar reassured the West that there were no terrorists in Afghanistan," he said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Maj.-Gen. Valery Gerasimov, center, commander of Russia's 58th army, and other officials look at a flag captured from Chechen fighters during fighting near the village of Galashki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Nazran, in the Russian republic of Ingushetia near the border with Chechnya, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002. A Russian military helicopter was shot down early Thursday in Galashki, killing two crewmen, the Russian Defense Ministry said. At least 10 Russian servicemen were killed in fierce fighting with Chechen fighters .(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)