Parliament Attacked in Chechnya

At least four people were killed and 17 wounded Tuesday when Chechen militants attacked a local parliament building.
Parliament Attacked in Chechnya
10/20/2010
Updated:
10/20/2010
[xtypo_dropcap]A[/xtypo_dropcap]t least four people were killed and 17 wounded Tuesday when Chechen militants attacked a local parliament building in the Chechen capital of Grozny, part of Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region, officials said.

Four Chechen rebels stormed the building Tuesday morning, arriving in a car masked as a taxi, and they waited for parliamentary officials to come in. One of rebels detonated his explosive outside, killing himself at the front entrance.

When a deputy official’s car approached at the entrance the militants stormed into the Parliament and began shooting people in an inner courtyard, according to Russian media reports.

The shootout left two policemen and one official dead, as well as one of the Chechen rebels.

Russian officials reported that two other attackers barricaded themselves inside the building, exchanging fire with security forces. After the firefight the attackers blew themselves up.

Tuesday’s attack is reported to be a response to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s statement that rebel forces are continuing to weaken in North Caucasus. The attack also coincided with Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev’s visit to Grozny.

The accident comes several months after rebels attacked Kadyrov’s hometown, Tsentoroi, in an attempt to kill him.

Such attacks have been infrequent of late in Chechnya in contrast to neighboring republics such as Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria where violent incidences have taken place over the last a few months. The most violent attack happened in September when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a local market in Vladikavkaz, capital of North Ossetia Province, also part of Russia’s North Caucasus, that left at least 16 people dead.

Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim territory, declared independence from Russia after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

Islamist separatists continue to battle against Russian forces in the Chechen mountains, striving for independence from Russia, and for their identity and religious recognition.

Kremlin-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov took office in 2007, ruling the region with an iron fist; Russian and international human rights organizations hold Kadyrov responsible for the persecution of dissidents and human rights activists in the Chechen Republic and accuse him of imposing an authoritarian regime in the country.

However, while the war against Chechen rebels officially ended three years ago, clashes involving rebels seeking independence from Russia continue.

Accused


Russian officials said Tuesday that the day’s attack was carried out by suspected Islamist rebels and was organized by Chechen rebel leader, Hussain Gakaev. Chechen officials also suspect Gakaev of involvement in the attack on Kadyrov’s residence. Gakaev is said to have recently distanced himself from Russia’s most notorious rebel leader, Doku Umarov, who claimed responsibility for the Moscow metro bombings in March when dozens of people died.

Former Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev, now living in exile in the West and acting as a representative of the Chechen government, has publicly recognized Gakaev as the new leader of Chechen militants.

Zakayev was formerly a field commander, minister of culture, and deputy prime minister in a cabinet with the late separatist president of the unrecognized republic of Ichkeria (Chechnya), Aslan Maskhadov.

The Kremlin in 2001 put the overseas Chechen leader Zakayev onto Interpol’s international wanted list, accusing him of involvement in terrorism, murder, and kidnapping. Russia has been seeking his extradition since then.

Zakayev has acted as a representative of the Chechen government since he escaped from Russia’s North Caucasus.