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Police killed as gun battle erupts in Chechnya's capital Gun battles erupt in Chechnya's capital after militants launch attack
(about 5 hours later)
Several police died in clashes with militants who attacked a traffic post in the Chechen capital, Grozny, and then stormed a building housing local media, Russian officials said on Thursday. Militants have attacked buildings in Chechnya’s capital Grozny, prompting gun battles that left at least three police officers and six insurgents dead, with unconfirmed reports of more casualties.
The latest skirmishes in volatile Chechnya will be seen as a major affront to President Vladimir Putin who is set to deliver his annual state of the nation address later in the day. Neither accurate information on just how many gunmen were involved in the attacks in the early hours nor whether the situation had been brought fully under control remained unclear on Thursday morning. There were rumours that groups of gunmen still active in locations across the city.
“There are losses among personnel,” the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. Kremlin-backed Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has often used tough and often violent security methods in recent years, and attacks by Islamic insurgents are now rare. But the region remains volatile, and attacks in the neighbouring republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia are more frequent.
The state RIA Novosti news agency, quoting a regional law enforcement source, said five police died and several were wounded. Russia’s anti-terrorist committee said militants had occupied Grozny’s Press House, which was later destroyed, killing six of the gunmen. The Interfax news agency quoted an anonymous official as saying that at least 10 law enforcement officers were killed and a further 20 injured. According to the authorities, three cars carrying militants drove into Grozny overnight, killing three traffic police officers who tried to stop them.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian interior ministry. The gunmen were later holed up in a school, though it is not believed that any students or teachers were present at the time. All schools in Grozny were closed on Thursday and a “counter-terrorist operation” status was introduced in the city by Russian authorities, which allows for enhanced security measures and the use of force.
The National Anti-Terrorist Committee said a group of assailants attacked a traffic post in Grozny in the early hours of Thursday and then stormed a building housing local media known as the Press House. On Thursday, Kadyrov uploaded a photograph on Instagram of what appeared to be the lower half of a dead body on the street.
The militants were being blockaded inside the building by members of the police and security services, it said. “Dogs will die like dogs,” he wrote. “The operation to destroy the bandits is entering its final phase. Six terrorists have already been destroyed and not one of them will be allowed to leave. I am personally leading the operation.”
Five policemen were killed and a dozen wounded in Grozny in October when they stopped a young suicide bomber from attacking a concert hall where thousands had gathered to mark a local holiday. Kadyrov had earlier asked residents of Chechnya to phone in information about “people who are behaving suspiciously and could be linked to [the terrorists]”.
That blast, which shattered a period of relative calm in the region, sparked concerns of a new cycle of violence in the north Caucasus where the Kremlin fought two wars with separatists over the past 20 years. Putin has promised to crush the bloody insurgency. A video posted to the Kavkaz Centre website, which North Caucasus Islamic insurgents often use for communication, featured a man speaking Chechen who said the gunmen were acting on the orders of the rebel leader Emir Khamzat.
When Putin turned 62 on 7 October more than 100,000 people, decked out in the colours of the Russian flag, marched in Grozny, led by Kremlin-backed regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov who carried a portrait of the Russian president. “There are already results; Allah has destroyed them using our hand,” says the man in the clip.
Some 1,100 guests including top officials and lawmakers will attend Putin’s address to the nation expected to lay out Kremlin’s political and economic priorities during a bitter confrontation with the West over Ukraine. The attack comes on the day when Vladimir Putin is scheduled to give an annual speech to the assembled Russian elite in the Kremlin. The state of the nation address will be watched particularly closely this year, after Russia’s relations with the west have worsened owing to events in Ukraine, and the rouble has slid to historic lows amid western sanctions and falling oil prices.