Russia opens investigation into terrorist attack in Chechnya
Security forces have engaged in fierce gun battles with Islamist militants holed up in two buildings. Chechnya is no longer as quiet as it has been in recent times.
Russia's Investigative Committee on December 4 opened an investigation into an attack on police in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on December 4.
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| The area where the gunfight between police and Islamic militants took place |
A team of 50 experienced investigators and forensic experts has been set up to investigate the brutal attack in the Chechen capital Grozny that left 10 police officers dead and 28 wounded, spokesman Vladimir Markin said. All 10 militants involved in the attack were killed.
“A thorough search of the scene has been carried out to find evidence related to this incident,” Mr. Markin said in a statement. “We are working to identify the attackers,” he added.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) said earlier that security forces had engaged in fierce gunfire with militants holed up in two buildings, including a school, after an attack on a traffic police checkpoint in Grozny.
Early on December 4, three cars packed with armed Islamist militants attacked a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Grozny. Three police officers were killed when they tried to stop the vehicles.
The terrorists then took refuge in the city's press building and inside a nearby school, which was empty at the time.
Both buildings were set on fire as security forces exchanged gunfire with the terrorists.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said the militants were linked to Doku Umarov, a self-styled leader of separatists in the North Caucasus.
The brutal attack on police came just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to deliver his annual state-of-the-nation address in Moscow.
The attack shattered the relative calm in the North Caucasus region over the past few years.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the Russian government and people./.
According to VOV
