Moscow, Sept. 18 : Russian customs chiefs have uncovered an underwater pipeline that was being used to smuggle cheap vodka from Russia into the European Union.

Moscow - Four law enforcement soldiers were found shot dead in the Russian Caucasus near the border with Chechnya, Ingushetia's Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

A spokesman said the members of Russia's special forces had been ambushed on the highway by unknown persons.

"As a result of shooting, all four military men who were in a vehicle died on the spot," - the spokesman was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. An investigation was under way.

Earlier in the day, Russia's FSB secret services said they had killed 10 rebel gunmen in an early morning shootout in the neighbouring Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

Moscow - Russia's two leading stock exchanges halted trading for the second day Wednesday as banks appealed to the finance ministry for emergency loans amid global market turmoil.

Russia's Micex market and RTS suspended trading indefinitely at 12:10 pm Moscow time at the request of Russia's financial watchdog, both indexes said in statements.

The ruble-denominated Micex fell 3.09 per cent before trading was halted, a spokeswoman was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying, and the dollar-denominated RTS plunged 6.39 per cent in its first two hours of trading.

The RTS index lost 57 per cent since soaring to record heights in May.

Moscow - Russia's FSB intelligence agency said Wednesday 10 rebel gunmen were killed in an early morning shoot-out in the Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

One security agent died and another was injured in the police assault, Dagestan's Interior Ministry said.

"The armed gang got caught in an ambush led by a special task force of the FSB," a spokesman for the agency was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

Moscow  - Russia's defence spending will increase 27 per cent in 2009, news agency Interfax quoted Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying on Tuesday.

"Nearly 2.4 trillion rubles (94.23 billion dollars) will be allocated for the needs of national defence and security," Putin was quoted as saying. "This is an increase of 27 per cent."

The announcement comes on the heels of Russia's crushing defeat of Georgian forces on the former Soviet satellite's soil last month.

Moscow/ Ashghabat, Turkmenistan - The president of the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan Tuesday ordered the creation of an anti-terrorist unit after weekend clashes in the capital.

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov confirmed that security officers were killed, but without saying how many, in overnight fights Saturday.

Independent websites and Russian media cited up to 20 dead and said the clashes were between security forces and Islamic rebels.