Moscow: Chechen rebels shot down a MI-8 military helicopter near Chechnya's provincial capital Grozny on November 3, killing all nine military personnel on board, including a three-member crew.

This is the second Russian military helicopter downed by the rebels within a week after the three-day Moscow theatre siege by suicide-bombers in which 119 hostages and 43 rebels were killed in special forces' security operation.

The ill-fated helicopter was fired at from nearby ruins of an apartment block while landing at Khankala base near Grozny, a spokesman of the Russian military in Chechnya, Col Boris Podoprigora, was quoted as saying by radio Mayak.

He said Federal troops were currently searching the area for the rebels.

On October 29, a MI-8 helicopter was shot down by a rebel missile, killing all three crew-members and one passenger aboard.

Earlier, according to agency reports, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov announced the suspension of Federal troops withdrawal from the breakaway republic as authorities have launched massive mopping up operations in Chechnya to unearth terrorist bases and arms dumps.

PTI