Ukraine MH17: Rebels ambush army convoy near crash site

BBC NEWS

Separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine have ambushed a government troop column, killing at least 10 soldiers, close to where flight MH17 crashed.

A military spokesman confirmed 10 deaths but Ukrainian media say as many as 20 died in the overnight attack.

The rebels say they destroyed more than 30 vehicles while unverified video shows bodies around a burning vehicle.

Dutch and Australian forensic teams visited the site on Thursday for the first time since the 17 July crash.

Ukraine's military had declared a unilateral one-day suspension of operations against the rebels in Donetsk region.

Previously, fighting in the region had prevented the Dutch and Australian teams reaching the area where the Malaysia Airlines jet came down with the loss of all 298 passengers and crew.

Australia believes that around 80 bodies remain at the site.

On Thursday a rebel delegation held talks with officials from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Minsk, capital of Belarus. The OSCE says the talks are to resume next week.

'Overwhelming enemy forces'

Vladyslav Seleznyov, spokesman for Ukraine's "anti-terrorist operation", said a unit of paratroopers had been ambushed on Thursday while moving to a new position.

"The overwhelming enemy forces ambushed our troops in Shakhtarsk, taking advantage of the topography," he told Ukraine's ICTV TV station.

The spokesman said the paratroopers had fought back and inflicted "significant losses" on their attackers.

Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky confirmed that 10 soldiers had been killed while a further four bodies had yet to be identified.

Another Ukrainian TV station, Channel 112, said the attack had happened during the night and 20 paratroopers had been killed.

Meanwhile, the Donetsk rebels' news agency said on Twitter that an "enemy" column had been "repulsed" and three soldiers from Ukraine's 25th Air Mobile Brigade had been taken prisoner.

Graphic amateur video published on YouTube, and dated 31 July, shows a burning military vehicle with charred and mangled bodies scattered nearby. The dead soldiers are said to be from the 25th Brigade.