6 dead in attack on Chechen Parliament
Source: Agencies |
October 20, 2010, Wednesday
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ISLAMIC insurgents, including a suicide bomber, stormed Chechnya's Parliament yesterday, leaving six people dead and 17 injured in one of the most brazen attacks on the provincial capital in months, officials said.
Ten years after the latest separatist war in the volatile region in southern Russia and after a decade of roundups and disappearances of °?Islamic suspects, it appears that Chechnya's administration still can't stop separatists from trying to blow up Parliament.
The attack left a grim scene around the Parliament building, with body parts and a decapitated corpse lying on the ground near shattered window glass.
Interior Ministry special forces paced the area in camouflage fatigues, wielding grenade-launching Kalashnikov rifles.
Ongoing battle
Chechnya, part of Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, has been battling an Islamist insurgency for years.
The exact motive for yesterday's attack was not known, but Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev was in Grozny for talks with Kadyrov about recent violence.
One militant set off a bomb at the gates of the Parliament complex in Grozny, the Chechen capital, killing himself and wounding others, Chechen police spokesman Ramzan Bekkhoyev told The Associated Press.
At least two other gunmen ran into the building shouting "Allahu akbar!" - "God is great!" in Arabic - as they opened fire on the people °?inside, he said.
Two police officers and one parliamentary official were killed in the attack and at least two insurgents also died in an ensuing firefight, officials said.
Nurgaliyev said the insurgents had tried to get into the main parliamentary hall.
"As always, they failed. Unfortunately, we were not able to avoid loss of life," he said in a televised speech. "The situation we saw today is extremely rare. Here, there is stability and security."
Russian news agencies reported that six of the wounded were °?members of the police and 11 were civilians.
The storming of the Parliament appeared to be part of a larger, coordinated attack. Russian media reported that insurgents also attacked the Agriculture Ministry building in the same complex and shots were fired inside the office of the Parliament's speaker, Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov.
The Interfax news agency said the speaker had been safely evacuated from the building and was unhurt.
Lawmakers decided not to cancel yesterday's parliamentary session in Grozny despite the fatal attacks.
Nurgaliyev spoke before the lawmakers, °?insisting the rebels' days were?numbered.
"The leadership of the insurgent underground has practically been taken out. A significant portion of its arms supplies and financial resources have been cut off. The work of emissaries from foreign terrorist centers has been contained," he declared.
Ten years after the latest separatist war in the volatile region in southern Russia and after a decade of roundups and disappearances of °?Islamic suspects, it appears that Chechnya's administration still can't stop separatists from trying to blow up Parliament.
The attack left a grim scene around the Parliament building, with body parts and a decapitated corpse lying on the ground near shattered window glass.
Interior Ministry special forces paced the area in camouflage fatigues, wielding grenade-launching Kalashnikov rifles.
Ongoing battle
Chechnya, part of Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, has been battling an Islamist insurgency for years.
The exact motive for yesterday's attack was not known, but Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev was in Grozny for talks with Kadyrov about recent violence.
One militant set off a bomb at the gates of the Parliament complex in Grozny, the Chechen capital, killing himself and wounding others, Chechen police spokesman Ramzan Bekkhoyev told The Associated Press.
At least two other gunmen ran into the building shouting "Allahu akbar!" - "God is great!" in Arabic - as they opened fire on the people °?inside, he said.
Two police officers and one parliamentary official were killed in the attack and at least two insurgents also died in an ensuing firefight, officials said.
Nurgaliyev said the insurgents had tried to get into the main parliamentary hall.
"As always, they failed. Unfortunately, we were not able to avoid loss of life," he said in a televised speech. "The situation we saw today is extremely rare. Here, there is stability and security."
Russian news agencies reported that six of the wounded were °?members of the police and 11 were civilians.
The storming of the Parliament appeared to be part of a larger, coordinated attack. Russian media reported that insurgents also attacked the Agriculture Ministry building in the same complex and shots were fired inside the office of the Parliament's speaker, Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov.
The Interfax news agency said the speaker had been safely evacuated from the building and was unhurt.
Lawmakers decided not to cancel yesterday's parliamentary session in Grozny despite the fatal attacks.
Nurgaliyev spoke before the lawmakers, °?insisting the rebels' days were?numbered.
"The leadership of the insurgent underground has practically been taken out. A significant portion of its arms supplies and financial resources have been cut off. The work of emissaries from foreign terrorist centers has been contained," he declared.
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